Beautiful feathers in Pitso’s cap

EVEN in the often fickle world of South African football, Pitso Mosimane is a national treasure. He deserves to be saluted for his immense contribution to the game in Mzansi.

After a pulsating final day of action in the PSL, the man they call “Jingles” became the first coach to win five championships in the Premiership division. His Mamelodi Sundowns team edged out Kaizer Chiefs, who had been at the summit for 379 days, for the title.

In total, Mosimane has now won 13 SA trophies, including “La Decima” for the Brazilians. Those are beautiful feathers in his cap.

After all, not even Mosimane himself would have seen this coming. When he took over the reins from Johan Neeskens seven and a half years ago, he was bruised – fresh from being sacked as Bafana Bafana’s commander-in-chief following a string of poor results.

But it’s remarkable how the 56-yearold coach has changed the script and punched way above his weight to not only lead Sundowns to 10 overall titles in seven years, but to also become the second coach alongside Gavin Hunt to win the championship for three seasons in a row.

In a year that has presented many challenges amid Covid-19, Mosimane and his charges at the weekend smashed another record as they bagged their domestic treble when they beat Bloemfontein Celtic in the Nedbank Cup final.

Thanks to Mosimane’s exploits, Sundowns are highly regarded on the continent as well. The Brazilians are hugely popular all over Africa, and Pitso has played a key part in this.

Of course many detractors will say Sundowns’ ability to compete lies in their buying power, considering that the club is owned by mining mogul Patrice Motsepe.

But the fact is that Percy Tau, the most expensive South African footballer, and many other stars have been expertly moulded by Mosimane. That is further proof of his technical and tactical acumen.

Mosimane knows that football coaches are always skating on thin ice, as we saw on Wednesday when Kaizer Chiefs abruptly fired Ernst Middendorp. But, as we said, Pitso is a national treasure.