Time for Brazilians to lift game to global level – Pitso

MAMELODI Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane ended his post-match press conference to the 2-0 Fifa Club World Cup quarterfinal defeat against Kashima Antlers with the revealing statement that if his club could play each week at such a level‚ they would.

“For us, it’s a learning curve‚ and we appreciate learning. And it’s nice for us to be here. I wish we could play every week here‚” the coach said‚ concluding his conference to the first round of applause heard at a media briefing at this tournament.

Parallels could be drawn between Downs’ first foray into the Club World Cup (CWC) in Osaka‚ Japan on Sunday night and the club’s first unsuccessful ventures into continental football under Mosimane.

They went home‚ reinvented their approach‚ and came back and won this year’s Caf Champions League.

Another step up would re- quire the same sort of remedy‚ Mosimane said.

“The problem with what we have now is that it’s OK for home‚ and for the Champions League. But we are rookies here.

“So it’s good. We are learning. We got ‘klapped’ a bit – we were a little bit naive. You learn, “he said.

“You must bury the game. How many did we miss? We are high-scoring in SA. But it’s not enough.

“We need to take it a little bit up – just a notch.

“But we also need to have everybody who thinks the same.

“For the coaches at home‚ we must never be happy that now I’m leaving Bloemfontein Celtic so I’ll go to Platinum Stars‚ and then I’ll go somewhere else because maybe the job is available‚ and they’re asking me because maybe I can save the team.

“Really‚ let’s get better. And it’s about real‚ proper development too. It needs to start for our players at a young age,” Mosimane said.

“It’s a global product we are trying to produce. If you want to sell a product in the world‚ it must meet standards.

“If you produce a cellphone in SA and you want Korea and Japan to buy it, it must be better than an LG or a Samsung.

“We’re playing global football. If you’re still trying to brag about beating Highlands Park 5-0 – no guys‚ we need to go to another level.”