By Kgomotso Mokoena
Johannesburg – Pitso Mosimane is the man for the big occasion. He is ready to pounce on German giants Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the 2021 Fifa Club World Cup tomorrow night.
Bayern will be Mosimane’s biggest test since he took over the Al Ahly job in October.
Under coach Hans-Dieter Flick, the Germans are a lean, mean precision machine and they have reasserted their authority as the Bundesliga’s most-dominating club.
But highly charged and temperamental big matches bring out the best in the former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana coach and it was evident when he led his Egyptian side to victory against the home side Al Duhail in an entertaining, tension-filled encounter at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
When the final whistle went off , the former Jomo Cosmos dribbling wizard raised his arms in his trademark celebratory pose.
The friction was palpable with the final whistle bringing a huge sense of relief, what with Duhail throwing the kitchen sink at Mosimane’s players in search of a late equaliser.
Hussein El Shahat scored in the first half and the feat meant that Mosimane has added another feather onto his highly decorated cap.
Al Ahly, the African club of the century, have now increased their unbeaten run in all competitions to 32 matches.
Mosimane set tongues wagging when he started with DR Congo forward Walter Bwalya and left the seasoned Marwan Mohsen on the bench. Bwalya did not disappoint and rewarded Mosimane by putting in a good shift.
After the victory, Mosimane, who won six major trophies last season, wrote on his Twitter account: “What a feeling! I will leave it to you to describe it.”
“Against Bayern, we should have fun at least. We have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Imagine we win that match, our lives will turn around. Bayern has the pressure, they must beat us. We don’t have pressure,” he told Fifa website. The winner between Ahly and Bayern will take on either Brazilian giants Palm.
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