Mosimane: We are focused on Palmeiras game and we can't please 100 million fans

Al Ahly's head coach Pitso Mosimane spoke in the press conference of his team's fixture against Brazilian Palmeiras on Thursday that will determine the third and fourth places in the FIFA Club World Cup, asserting that the group is completely focused on achieving a win to secure the bronze medal.

"We don't want to be negative, we are excited about tomorrow's game and we want to win. Our goal is achieving the bronze medal and we believe in our ability to claim victory and everything is possible in football," Mosimane told reporters.

"We don't look at the negative side, as our performance in the first game and against Bayern Munich was good. We are doing everything we can, and I hope we can return to the tournament once again next year," he added.

About the absence of the duo Mahmoud Kahraba and Hussein Al Shahat due to breaching health bubble regulations, Mosimane stated that it was an inadvertent incident and that he will think of it as if they are missing the game through injury.

Mosimane response to criticism

The South African coach has been subjected to a lot of criticism following the team's defeat to Bayern Munich in the tournament's semi-final, over the selection of his starting line-up and the plan he picked to face the European champions.

In response to the attacks, Mosimane commented: "We can't choose the line-up based on what is being said on social media. There are so many people communicating on such websites and I can't satisfy 100 million fans in terms of selection."

He continued: "We love our fans and appreciate them, and their existence during previous games encouraged us and they were happy but no one asked me why I played this player or subbed this one off."