Sour grapes or just cold hard facts, Pitso?

IN THE aftermath of Mamelodi Sundowns being knocked out of the CAF Champions League on Tuesday night coach Pitso Mosimane came down hard on continental football, slamming the opposition for time wasting tactics while officials turn a blind eye and claimed the tournament organisers were 10 years behind Europe.

Whether this was sour grapes or cold hard facts is left to anybody’s interpretation.

The Brazilians were eliminated from Africa’s premier club competition after Horoya AC of Guinea held them to a goalless draw and joined Wydad Casablanca in the last eight.

Downs needed all three points to progress to the quarterfinals.

“I am proud that my players had soul, fair play and were clean. We could have easily instructed them to roll around on the floor to wind down the clock when we were leading 2-1 against Horoya in Conakry, but we kept playing and they equalised from a corner late in the game,” Mosimane said in his post match reaction at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Horoya, on their visit to South Africa this week, had showed no sign of playing for a draw in the opening minutes of their group stage clash with Sundowns, although a single point would have taken them through to the quarterfinals.

But deep into the second half the Guinea outfit dropped back in their numbers, occasionally appearing to feign injuries to frustrate Sundowns, who were now desperate for that all-important goal. Mosimane felt Tunisian referee Sadok Selmi should have added more than the four minutes of extra time.

“You will never see a referee add seven minutes like we have seen here in the PSL when there has been an injury or time wasting,” the Sundowns coach claimed.

“And this is why we are behind in Africa from our Europe counterparts. Everywhere we played people were falling all over the place and wasting time. If you are not streetwise and clever in how you manoeuvre in Africa, you will never do well in this competition. It is about having the mentality and understanding what you need to do to win. People look at the PSL and want to compare it to the Champions League. You can’t, because it’s a different ball game there and we are paying our school fees.”

Mosimane also insisted that, despite being crowned 2016 winners, they were still very much wet behind the ears when it comes to continental football.

“People need to be patient with us. Remember that we have not been in this space for long. We are babies in this thing,” he said of their elimination, which is a second in a row after Wydad beat them in the quarterfinals last year.

While SA clubs may not have always taken the Champions League seriously because of the strenuous travelling logistics and how it ends up affecting their domestic performance, Sundowns – as well as 1995 champions Orlando Pirates – have often been acknowledged for flying the flag.