‘We changed the status quo:’ Pitso Mosimane on success in Africa, breaking barriers in Egypt and European prejudices

“Do not give Al-Hilal a chance on the ball, guys. If you do, they will show how good they are.”

This is what Al-Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane told his players before the FIFA Club World Cup bronze-medal match against the Asian and Saudi champions in Abu Dhabi.

That did the trick. The Egyptian giants simply demolished Al-Hilal 4-0, leading to Leonardo Jardim’s dismissal from the Riyadh club.

“They have an amazing team,” the South African said of Al-Za’eem in a phone call from Cairo. “My staff and I slept four hours a night to prepare our players for a match every three days, especially this one.”

“We checked everything about Al-Hilal and noticed that against Chelsea, when the latter put a little pressure on, Hilal lost the ball. So we did the same. Against a team with so much quality like Al-Hilal, it’s crucial.”

“We simply had this second engine inside of us that day,” the 57-year-old said.

Mosimane is one of the rising football figures in Africa in recent years. He has been an assistant in a World Cup with South Africa, won multiple domestic titles, and in 2020 became the first black African coach to take charge of one of African and Arab football’s most prominent institutions, Al-Ahly. 

He remains a fascinating, barrier-breaking character who looks to challenge conventions in world football. 

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Mosimane discussed the Club World Cup challenges, life at Al-Ahly, football in Africa and the Middle East, and being a successful non-European coach in a Eurocentric football world. A story of a coach that goes against the odds, to change the status quo. 

“On one hand, we got a medal, which was what we wanted,” Mosimane said of the Cairo club’s Club World Cup campaign. 

“On the