Pitso Mosimane has opened up on facing Kaizer Chiefs, maintaining that the highly-anticipated clash is not about himself nor South Africa – but about winning the title.
After giving his players a day of rest on Sunday, Mosimane and his Al Ahly troops were back in training on Monday, in preparation for their Egyptian Premier League match against Pyramids FC.
In a candid interview with the club’s media department, the 56-year-old revealed his thoughts about Amakhosi, who he will face at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca on 17 July.
“I do not have personal emotions on Kaizer Chiefs, no personal emotions and that is what I did also when I faced Sundowns. The match against Kaizer Chiefs is not about me and it is not about South Africa. It is about my team and the 90 minutes we have to win the title,” Mosimane explained.
The coach says he is fully aware of Chiefs from his time as Mamelodi Sundowns coach saying, they ‘were usually behind Sundowns in the league’ – but has admitted that they are a different prospect, especially after parting ways with Gavin Hunt this season.
“I knew Kaizer Chiefs when I was in South Africa, but I do not know that much about them this season because they changed the coach and removed him to bring another coach. In the domestic league, they did not play very well. Normally, they are always second, third or fourth behind Mamelodi Sundowns, it is like Al Ahly and Zamalek here in Egypt. They are a good team but this season in the league, they were in the 12th position at some stage. You must not look at their performance in the league; you must focus on their journey in the CAF Champions League because it is not easy to reach the final.
“You never know with them; they can play a very good game and sometimes they do not show the same performance. They lost 4-0 to Wydad in a neural venue and then they went to face Wydad in Morocco and won. They defeated Simba 4-0 at home but lost 3-0 in Tanzania. You must not try to make sense out of it, just focus on the game. Their best games were in the Champions League not in the domestic league, so we will focus on their games in the Champions League,” Mosimane added.
Click through the gallery to see Chiefs' road to the CAF CL Final:
