Roger de Sa opened up on how impressed he has been with the progress of Pitso Mosimane since leaving the PSL, while raising his concerns over football in Saudi Arabia as he feels 'it's almost like a game without a soul'.
De Sa and Mosimane have had similar journeys in terms of travels in their job, with both coaches working in Egypt a few years ago, before they moved to the Middle-East to take their coaching careers to the next level.
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Unlike Mosimane who has worked for clubs in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, De Sa has worked in the national teams of Egypt, Iran and Qatar as number two to former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Queiroz.
De Sa has been impressed with what Mosimane has done since leaving the country, but feels the former Mamelodi Sundowns mentor left Egyptian giants Al Ahly prematurely. Mosimane is now working for Saudi Arabian top flight side Abha FC and is hoping to save them from relegation, with four matches left in the season.
"Pitso moved at the right time. He had a great opportunity there (in Egypt) and he was very successful at Al Ahly. He left prematurely, which happens all the time in those countries. It's always like that, but I thought he had a great time there and he made his mark, for sure," De Sa said to the Siya crew.
De Sa went on to describe football in Saudi Arabia as "a game without a soul".
"Going to Saudi Arabia is a different world. It's very different from the rest of world football. Financially it's rewarding, but it's lacking in a lot of other areas. It's almost like a game without a soul. It's a difficult place to be in, but nevertheless you come up against top coaches, top players and facilities are fantastic. Of course, there are challenges like the weather and so on. But he is cutting his teeth. He is doing his job and he's got his technical team there and he is making his mark," De Sa said.
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"Also, he is learning. The one thing about this is that we never stop learning. While he is travelling from country to country, we are learning. I played against India and against so many countries I never thought I would come up against. You learn so much from those cultures when you get there. It's crazy. We played Kuwait, New Zealand and all these other countries."
De Sa is currently back in the country and will make a decision on where he coaches next in the coming months.
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