Pitso Mosimane was only moments away from a perfect start in his debut match in charge of Abha Club in the Saudi Pro League this past weekend, but the South African faces an uphill battle to save his team from relegation.
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An own goal from Al Taawoun's Waleed Al-Ahmad almost handed the 59-year-old tactician a dream start in his new role, which the former Mamelodi Sundowns manager will hold until the end of the season, but it ultimately wasn't to be as Abha Club conceded late to drop points for the eighth game running.
Heading into the business end of the 2023/24 campaign, the leaders of the South, as they're nicknamed, will need victories to get out of the messy situation Mosimane has inherited. After 20 matches, 17th-placed Abha Club has accumulated only 15 points from 20 matches, which currently leaves them four points from safety. While he has celebrated major successes in his managerial career – the titles he won at Sundowns and Al Ahly – Mosimane is in for a new experience, but one not too dissimilar to what he experienced previously in Saudi Arabia, when he coached Al Ahli between September 2022 and June 2023. There, "Jingles" helped the club earn promotion back to the country's top division at his first attempt, an achievement that will have undoubtedly attracted Abha Club's hierarchy during their search for a new manager.
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In terms of the fixture list, it will hardly get any easier for Mosimane and his staff as they prepare for big league games from now until the end of the campaign against clubs such as Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq, Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al Nassr and an Al Ittihad side captained by Karim Benzema. Picking up three points against teams spearheaded by some of the sport's great global superstars will be difficult, but a challenge Mosimane is relishing. During a recent interview, the South African tactician spoke with authority when he insisted he is where he deserves to be. He mentioned being replaced by Al Ahli after earning promotion, and that he is "personalising" his story in the Middle East by reminding himself he has unfinished business in the country. You don't have to be a fan of Mosimane to admire his attitude to what could be a not-so-pretty run-in to the end of the season.
Abha Club's next six SPL fixtures:
Al Fayha (A) – 25 February
Al Tai (H) – 1 March
Al Ettifaq (A) – 9 March
Al Wehda (H) – 14 March
Al Riyadh (A) – 4 April
Al Nassr (H) – 11 April
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