Sundowns have ‘paid their school fees’
Pitso: We now know how to play against north African teams
THE north African bug has bitten coach Pitso Mosimane so much that he started his post-match press conference on Saturday after Mamelodi Sundowns beat Wydad Casablanca 1-0 with shukran (thank you in Arabic).
Once he remembered that he was in Pretoria and not Casablanca, he laughed. It was easy for Mosimane to forget where he was – north Africa has become his playground since the Brazilians became one of the big boys in continental football. He is also revered in those parts, so much so that Egypt’s biggest TV station ON TV asked him to be an analyst during the Africa Cup of Nations. Mosimane is also among four African coaches who were invited by Caf to be part of the first batch of coaches studying towards the inaugural Caf Pro Licence. Mosimane can now also boast to be the first South African coach whose team has gone unbeaten in the group stage of the Champions League.
“It’s good to finish on top of the log, that’s what we wanted,” Mosimane said. “It’s a positive change for the team in the Champions League. We are growing slowly with experience. We tend to understand the tournament a little bit more now, we are no longer naive. Before we were just going in with the energy and wanted to win at all costs, but we paid our school fees and now we know how to play Champions League.”
The win over Wydad continued Sundowns’ good run against north
African sides. The Brazilians have faced almost all the big north African clubs and they have held their own against them, troubling them with their skill and pace. Sundowns’ brightest hour came at the expense of a north African team when they beat Egypt’s Zamalek to win the 2016 Champions League.
Sundowns’ most commanding performance, the 5-0 drubbing of Caf’s Club of the Century Al Ahly in last season’s quarter-final first leg, is further proof of how much they have the edge over north African clubs. They will have to rely on that information in this season’s quarter-finals as they will face either Zamalek, Al Ahly or Morocco’s Raja Casablanca all of whom finished second in their groups. The draw for the last eight will be conducted on Wednesday in Cairo.
“The most important thing for us is to understand how to play against the north Africans because north Africans have been dominant in club football,” Mosimane said. “The title is always in north Africa, if not there is a team from there in the final and semi-finals. The history backs that. What’s important for us at Sundowns was to understand the culture, the mentality and the way they play. We have gathered experience now. We know how to play against north Africans. We have played Esperance, Al Ahly, Zamalek, Wydad and USM Alger. The results have been good, which means we understand the mentality of playing the north Africans. If you look at even the national teams, who are the teams that are winning the Cup of Nations? The north Africans. South Africa must understand that, from club level to the national team.
“It’s not all about tactics when you face north Africans, it’s the mentality. You must understand the culture and you’ve got to be able to read the body language. It is more than just a game. You’ve got to understand all those things, and once you do you’ve got to teach your players to understand that. These are big teams. I know how to play against them.”