Pitso Mosimane targets swift return to Club World Cup after Al Ahly finish third

Al Ahly manager Pitso Mosimane has said the bronze medal won at the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi is a better achievement than the last time they finished third in Qatar 2020.

The African and Egyptian champions thrashed Al Hilal, the Asian Champions League holders, 4-0 at Al Nahyan Stadium on Saturday in the third-place play-off.

Hamdi Fathi opened the scoring in the eighth minute, before Hilal were reduced to 10 men when Matheus Pereira was sent off six minutes later. Yasser Ibrahim doubled Ahly's lead shortly after and Hilal's task to get back into the game was made near-impossible after Mohammed Kano also received his marching orders midway through the first half. Ahly made their Saudi opponents pay by making it 3-0 through Ahmed Abdel Kader five minutes before the break, and Amr El Solia completed the rout in the 64th minute.

“For me, this was the medal this season, it’s better than the medal we won last time,” Mosimane said. “We played against nine men in the play-off but we would have won even if that didn’t happen."

Ahly's preparations for the Club World Cup were significantly affected as they had several players in the Egypt squad which reached the Africa Cup of Nations final. Those players joined the squad at the end of an exhausting campaign but that didn’t help them in the semi-finals, going down to Brazilian side Palmeiras 2-0.

"We arrived for this competition with six of our players on national duty at the Africa Cup of Nations," Mosimane added. “We had many injured players in our squad and many more who joined after the Africa Cup of Nations. To play and win a bronze under these circumstances showed the spirit and character of this team.

Al Ahly manager Pitso Mosimane praised the club's fans for their