While the world is spluttering about the turbulent times brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, Mamelodi Sundowns tactician Pitso Mosimane prefers to focus on the positive side of things.
Sporting activities have been brought to a grinding halt since mid-March by the disease that has ravaged the world in a few months.
But Mosimane and those close to him at home have chosen to accept the reality, stay at home and look to see how this break can be used fruitfully. The coach’s football schedule limited his family time and he is now catching up with the many Mosimane household responsibilities.
Since Mosimane joined Sundowns in 2012, he has nursed the ambition of making the Brazilians a dominant force in the continent.
But participation in the CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup and Fifa Club World Cup, and chasing domestic glory, has meant less time for his family and himself.
Mosimane shared with Independent Media how he is using this lockdown with his family, and interestingly the coaching bug often gets the better of him even at home.
“In the first week, I slept. Now I feel fresh, I feel I’m back. That’s positive. I’m able to focus on myself. There are few things that I wanted to document about myself but I didn’t have time for that because of our schedule. I’ve neglected myself a lot. I’ve always been worried about Mamelodi Sundowns and in the process I’ve forgotten about myself,” said Mosimane.
“(At home) I’ve looked after Pitso a little bit. I’ve documented things. I found time to look at my pictures and videos in my archives. You never know one day, you’ll want to write a book about yourself. This has given me time to look after myself. Are you going to leave something for your grandchildren? I have to look into that space as well,” he added.
The 55-year-old mentor and his family are reading books together.
“We are reading as a family. We’ve got one and a half hour as a family to read. We are reading three times a week and have a one day break. I’d not been reading because I was busy with the team, playing after every three days. Now I’ve found time to read. I’m currently reading a book on (former tennis Grand Slam champion) Andre Agassi. Oh what a book!”
Mosimane always expressed a desire to nurture the future stars of South African football but his busy schedule denied him that opportunity.
“I also want to help with school sports. This has given me a chance to say what do you want to do in school sports. I’ve been doing a lot of research also to check on what I want to do and what is the world doing in youth football,” Mosimane explained.
Mosimane is the most accomplished tactician in the Premier Soccer League era and he feels this break will revitalise him for future challenges.
“I’ve suddenly started training. It is good for my mind and I can see the difference in my body. Above that I’ve spent time with my family. My children are never around, they are at school. We see them after school. After school, how many hours do we have? From 5pm to 8pm. That’s three hours maximum with your children. Now, they are all here. I even found time to play games with my family. Last week we were playing football at the rondo (rondavel). My daughter was inside and we were kicking."
From what the coach says, it would seem there is no dull moment in the Mosimane family but clearly football is very much part of their life.
“In the morning, I help my nine-year-old with his football training. Where he’s playing, his coach has sent him videos online. They have to train and send videos back to the coach. I have time to train with him now. I don’t have time to train my son because I’m at Sundowns in the morning. Now, I have time to see his weaknesses and strengths. It is difficult. We have a lot of fights because I’m thinking I’m training a Gaston Sirino here whereas I’m training a nine year old. Now, I can see the technique is not proper. I lose it and I always have to call myself to order - this is a nine year old,” Mosimane explained.
Sundowns have depth in their squad and Mosimane has found time to go through that quality by watching some games they’ve played recently. He watches these and compares with what his son is doing.
“Yes, you get time to analyse your team. I can have something to say about each and every player in our team on his game. I always record games that I don’t have time to watch. I’m talking La Liga games, now I’m watching them. I have time to do all the things. There’s a lot of positive that I’ve taken out of this situation,” Mosimane explained.