Pitso Mosimane
New job for one of African football’s trailblazers
Coaching in North Africa, or throughout the Arabic-speaking world for that matter, is not for the faint of heart, or those in search of job security. Results and success are all that matters and failure to provide instant gratification usually means a quick exit. Even the perennially successful clubs have an extraordinarily high turnover of coaches, including Africa’s most successful side Al Ahly.
They have had 18 coaching changes over the last decade, even while winning continental titles and continuing to dominate domestic competitions. Coaches are Egyptian, European or South American, but the Cairo giants have now broken with their longstanding preference and employed the South African Pitso Mosimane.
He is the first black African coach in more than a century at the Egyptian club in what is not only a unique step for Al Ahly, but also massively symbolic. Mosimane signed in September just weeks after securing a fifth South African league title in seven years with Mamelodi Sundowns. He became his country’s most successful coach in the process after a season in which the club also did the treble by taking both major domestic cups (FA Cup and League Cup) too.
The 56-year-old grew up in Soweto amid the tumult and chaos of the struggle against apartheid. He started as a teenage striker at Jomo Cosmos and Sundowns before moving to Greek club Ionikos.
Outgoing, inquisitive and with something of a chip on his shoulder, he has been in perpetual search of success, although sadly just past his prime when South Africa returned to international football. He scored on his debut but managed just four caps in 1993-94. He later played in Qatar and Belgium, before returning home to coach juniors at various clubs, later becoming Bruce Grobbelaar’s assistant at SuperSport United.
When the Liverpool icon was sacked in 2001, Mosimane took over and quickly impressed, winning a handful of cup trophies and spotting promising talent. In 2006 he was identified as a future national team coach and appointed assistant to Carlos Alberto Parreira, brought in to take charge of South Africa when they hosted the 2010 World Cup.
Mosimane replaced the Brazilian after that tournament but was fired after a poor start to the 2014 qualifying campaign. Back at Sundowns, he moulded together – with the benefit of unlimited resources from owner, the mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe – a side that won the African Champions League in 2016. Two years ago, in the quarter-final of the same competition, Mosimane’s team played Al Ahly off the park in the first leg and the 5-0 win was the heaviest defeat in some 80 years for the Egyptian giants.
Sundowns have proven a nemesis for the North African sides who usually dominate the Champions League and the attacking, flowing style of their play has earned him many admirers.
He arrived at Al Ahly in September, just weeks after they had won another league title. Within two months, he had added the CAF Champions League and Egypt Cup to complete the club’s third treble. Now, he carries a heavy burden, flying the flag for other promising black coaches seeking to break through the barrier of injustice.