Mosimane: eliminated by and crowned with Al-Ahly in the same season
The South-African coach wrote history by leading the Red Devils to their ninth CL title despite being knocked out of the competition earlier when he was in charge of Mamelodi Sundowns.
In less than two months at the helm South African coach Pitso Mosimane claims his first African title with Al-Ahly of Egypt following a victory over the historic rival Zamalek in the final game. A late winner from Mohamed Magdy "Afsha" granted Al-Ahly their long-awaited ninth CAF Champions League title after losing the finals of the 2017 and 2018 editions.
Mosimane started the tournament as the head coach of the South-African side Mamelodi Sundowns who were knocked out of the quarter-final at the hands of the Red devils whose coach back then was the Swiss René Weiler.
After the competition was halted for several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, Weiler and Al-Ahly's board weren't getting along very well as the coach expressed his desire to return to his country when the management decided to replace him with the experienced Mosimane.
Mosiamne started his journey with the team in the semi-finals against Wydad Casablanca as he managed to claim a landslide 5-1 victory on aggregate after securing a 2-0 lead in Casablanca before widening the gap in Cairo with another 3-1 win.
It's Mosimane's second time to defeat Zamalek in the final:
Luck has always taken Mosimane's side when the coach faced Zamalek in this competition. Pitso has won the title twice after beating Zamalek in the final game of both editions. His first title was in 2016 when he was in charge of Mamelodi Sundowns and managed to snatch the trophy after defeating Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate in the finale.
Mosimane is the second foreign coach to win the title with Al-Ahly:
Mosimane has become the second foreign coach to claim the precious title with al-Ahly after their legendary coach Manuel Jose who led the team to win the title on four different occasions.
He also became the third coach to have won the competition with two different teams after Mahmoud Al-Gohary who won the title with both Egyptian giants Zamalek and Al-Ahly, and the Argentine coach Oscar Fulloné who won two consecutive titles with ASEC Mimosas and Raja Casablanca in 1998 and 1999.
Pitso still has an opportunity to relish a historic first season with Al-Ahly as he is set to take RS Berkane in the African Super Cup next month in Cairo besides participating in the club World Cup in Qatar next February.