PITSO TIPS BUCS TO WIN THE LEAGUE
But is the Mamelodi Sundowns coach being entirely honest in his appraisal?
MAMELODI Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane sounded like he was being earnest when he tipped Orlando Pirates to win the Absa Premiership – and should that happen, he said he would congratulate the club.
But those who know Mosimane will know that that’s far from the truth. The serial winner hates losing, whether it’s a friendly match or a fight for the championship. He would congratulate them, but he would never makes thing easy for Pirates.
His stance to tip Pirates for the league is two-fold – it’s a ploy to shift the focus from Sundowns to the Soweto giants, and it’s also a strategy to downplay their chances so that should they lose out on the trophy it would not feel like a train smash.
The Brazilians will give it their all in their remaining two matches, starting tonight against Golden Arrows at Loftus Versfeld, knowing that a victory would take them to No1 and secure their participation in continental football for a fifth consecutive year.
“Pirates are still in it,” Mosimane said. “They tried hard. They kept the same team for two years. They kept the coach and increased the personnel. They showed that they really, really want it. If they can win it, I would give congratulations to (coach) Micho (Sredojevic), (assistant coaches) Rhulani (Mokwena) and Fadlu (Davids).
“But to win the Champions League or go to the semi-finals is something else. The Champions League is played in a different way, what we have understood at Sundowns is how to play against the North Africans. We have figured them out,” Mosimane said.
“But we have yet to conquer them. We are the only team in the SADC in my opinion, except TP Mazembe, who have figured out the North Africans.”
To show that they have mastered North African teams, Sundowns must return to continental football and beat them after being eliminated in the semi-final of the CAF Champions League by Wydad Casablanca. This was the second time the Moroccan giants eliminated Sundowns in the continent’s premier club competition. Wydad also stunned Sundowns in the quarterfinals of the 2017 edition. Despite playing football non-stop since 2016, Sundowns have managed to compete in the Champions League and Absa Premiership.
Mosimane looks back at his team’s performance this season with pride. Sundowns have had an up and down campaign, but have managed to juggle their commitments and not lose much ground at home.
“It’s a tough league,” Mosimane said. “All the travelling. All the games, the stress and the pressure. Rabat to Thohoyandou. That was a big one. I didn’t think that we would come back. We managed to come back, that’s when I said that God works in mysterious ways. That’s God who has created the situation we are in.”