Staff Reporter.
Pitso Mosimane is set to become a history maker in continental football if his Al Ahly side win Monday’s African Champions League final.
The final will kick-off at 9pm CAT.
Not only will it be the first time a club has won the top club prize on the continent three times in a row but will also mark a fourth Champions League for Mosimane.
On top of taking Ahly to the 2020 title, beating Cairo rivals Zamalek, and last season, when they demolished 10-man Kaizer Chiefs, Mosimane was also coach of Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016 when they won a rare success for a South African club in continental competition.
That began what has become a whirlwind triumph in international football, unprecedented by any South African coach.
The margin of victory over Zamalek in the 2016 final impressed the Egyptians but it was the manner of Sundowns’ success over Al Ahly in the 2019 quarterfinal that really grabbed their intention.
The 5-0 first leg win in Atteridgeville ranks as one of the great South African success on the international stage, its impact not properly realised, or appreciated, by football followers in South Afrfica.
Among those enamoured of the Sundowns’ playing style and approach was Mahmoud Al Khatib, one of the greats of the African game in the 1970s and 80s and now elevated to the all-powerful position of president of Al Ahly.
It was he who approached Mosimane to coach his club in 2020, a bold move in a country sceptical about the acumen and ability of African coaches and who have, for decades, turned to Europe or Latin America for their trainers.
Black African coaches get little opportunity outside their own countries, even on their own continent, and Mosimane has done much to break down barrier of prejudice and open avenues for others.
His success with Ahly includes credible performances at the Club World Cup and dominant runs in the Champions League, which they will certainly seek to continue in Mondays’ final against Wydad Casablanca.
Only one other coach has won four Champions League titles – Manuel Jose, a former Benfica Coach who is revered in Egypt for his achievements with Al Ahly.
His first African Champions League success was, ironically, against Sundowns in 2001 when Ted Dumitru coached the South African club.
Mosimane still has to deal with detractors in the Egyptian media and among some of the retired players, turned pundits. There is no doubt this sniping has an element of racism in it.
But in time this 57-year-old from Soweto will be revered in the same way. Especially if Ahly come away from Monday’s final in Casablanca with a victory.