WeeklySA_AdminTACTICIAN: His fault is being a focused African coach destined for greatness
Egypt and Ahly legend Ahmed Hassan defended Pitso Mosimane who has been subject of a lot of criticism despite his success with the Red Devils. Mosimane has proved once again to be one of the best coaches in Africa and the suitable choice for Al Ahly after guiding them to their second consecutive CAF Champions League final.
The Red Devils beat Tunisia giants Esperance 4-0 on aggregate to book their spot in the final, where they will face Kaizer Chiefs on July 17.
If the Reds are to win the Champions League, it would mark Mosimane’s fourth trophy since taking charge less than one year ago. These trophies include the 2019-2020 CAF Champions League, the CAF Super Cup and Egypt Cup.
Despite that, the South African still has his fair share of critics who continuously attack him for his somewhat conservative style play and claim that he doesn’t suit the club.
Hassan believes that this only due to the fact that he’s African, because fans are mostly used to foreigners [Europeans and South Americans] being in charge.
“Mosimane deserved the praise from the beginning. He’s a distinguished coach and a tactician at the highest level, and his problem is that he is African, because the public and the media are used to foreigners.
He achieved everything that was asked of him and the decision of him coaching Al Ahly was the correct one,” he told OnTime Sport TV.
Hassan then spoke about the current Al Ahly squad and their chances of beating Kaizer Chiefs, who shockingly knocked-out Wydad Casablanca despite being outplayed in both matches.
“Kaizer Chiefs is an average team compared to Al Ahly, and Wydad dominated possession in the two matches. But Al Ahly needs to make a lot of effort to win the tenth title,” he continued.
“The advantage of him this Al Ahly trio, Dieng, El-Sulya and Hamdi Fathi, is that they can add a lot to the team offensively and defensively. Especially Dieng, who has great potential and was a great transfer for Al Ahly.
“Mosimane is the one who succeeded in implementing Al Ahly’s style of play. He was able to keep Al Ahly in great form despite the absences that the team had. He took advantage of the players’ abilities to build his plan in the matches,” he concluded.
Ahmed Hassan held the record for most international caps since the early 2010s.
The former Egypt international had recorded 184 appearances with the Pharaohs, but was recently outstripped by Kuwait football legend Bader Al-Mutawa who broke the record after earning his 185th cap. – kingfut.com
