The next target: Big in Japan
ALEXANDRIA: “Bring the trophy inside,” Pitso Mosimane instructed a Mamelodi Sundowns’ official to fetch the Caf Champions League crown so that he could enter the Borg el-Arab Stadium auditorium with it.
The Sundowns’ coach didn’t want to be far from the biggest prize in club football on the continent. He has been obsessed with it since he started his coaching career at SuperSport United. But at Sundowns, who lost in the final in 2001, it was a dream that he shared with the club president Patrice Motsepe.
The billionaire businessman didn’t just say that he wanted his club to be African champions, but he also invested in it with Mosimane at the forefront of driving that vision. Sundowns spent most of their pre-season outside South Africa under Mosimane, going from Nigeria to Ghana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The drive for that was to prepare the players for the conditions of the Champions League. Coincidentally, to reach this year’s final Sundowns had to travel to Zambia in the first leg of the semifinals to face Zesco.
Familiarity helped them overcome that hurdle. Now that Mosimane has tasted what it’s like to be an African champion, he has his sights on bigger things.
“Japan in the Fifa Club World Cup is next. There is also the Caf Super Cup (against the winner of the Caf Confederation Cup final between TP Mazembe and MO Bejaia). Let’s go,” Mosimane said.
“Let’s find out where we are in global football. We will know where we are because we will be playing against the people who have won their continental competitions. It will give us a good measurement to see where we are.”
It was evident that Mosimane had his eye on the future with the squad he travelled with to Alexandria. Thapelo Morena, Yannick Zakri, Samuel Julies,
I would also like to thank Wits and Gavin (Hunt) for giving us a wake-up call in the MTN8 final. If we had won that cup, maybe we could have dropped this one.” - Pitso
Ricardo Nascimento, Sibusiso Vilakazi and Anele Ngcongca, who is injured, were there to soak up the atmosphere and prepare themselves for next year because they weren’t registered for this year’s tournament.
Some of these players were also there to prepare for the start of the Brazilians’ Telkom Knockout title defence against Polokwane City on Thursday.
Sundowns arrive back in SA tomorrow. They wouldn’t have had enough time to prepare for this game if they had stayed behind.
Yesterday the Brazilians recovered from the final in Cairo where they’ll train today before flying out at night. It’s a tough balancing act, along with the congested fixture list that shows how challenging competing on the domestic and continental fronts is.
“I believe that any team that plays in the Champions League or the Confederation Cup, and you really want it, pays a heavy prize,” Mosimane said.
“You get injuries. We lost the league last year because of this Champions League. We lost the Nedbank Cup to (Orlando) Pirates because of this year’s Champions League. We dropped two points against Maritzburg United this season because we were focusing on the Zesco (United) game (in the semi-final). If you win, it’s really worth it though.
“I would also like to thank Wits and Gavin (Hunt) for giving us a wake-up call in the MTN8 final. If we had won that cup, maybe we could have dropped this one.
“That loss gave us a little bit of humility.
“We were humbled. As a coach I can’t ask for more. This was the only trophy that I hadn’t won.
“I can go home and say that at least I have contributed to South African football.”
Meanwhile, Motsepe confirmed that the team will share the close to R21-million that comes with winning the Champions League.
Since the mining magnate took over the club in 2003, it has always been his policy to give the players and the technical team the entire winnings, while he only takes the trophy to display at the Brazilians’ headquarters in Chloorkop.
The Champions League was the only trophy that hadn’t graced Sundowns’ offices in Motsepe’s time. It has always been his dream to see Sundowns rule the continent. He brought coaches like Miguel Gamondi, Henri Michel, Hristo Stoichkov and Johan Nesskens to realise that dream but he only experienced nightmares. Mosimane succeeded on the continent in his fourth year in charge of the club. It was only their second season in the Champions League under Mosimane who took over when Sundowns were bottom of the log in 2012.
“I had lots of coaches from all over the world,” Motsepe said.
“I had to wait for a young man from South Africa to show us, something that we always knew, that we have so much talent in South Africa. We must just give our coaches a chance.
“It’s no secret that I had tried to get Pitso for some time, even before he went to the national team. When he did that I understood that going to the national team was a part of him making a contribution to South Africa.
“There’s a young boy from Soweto, KwaMashu or Khayelitsha, who looks at Pitso and says that here is one of our own winning the highest and most respected trophy in Africa then I can also do it, whether as a coach or a player.”