"Pitso Mosimane couldn't handle pressure at Al Ahly" | OneFootball

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Former Ahly player on Mosimane's tenure

Photo: Pitso Mosimane

Former Al Ahly midfielder Karim Walid Nedved says renowned South African coach Pitso Mosimane couldn't handle pressure during his time in Cairo.

The 61-year-old mentor ended his eight-year stay with Mamelodi Sundowns to steer the Red Devils' ship in October 2020.

During his stint in North Africa, Mosimane won two CAF Champions League titles and as many CAF Super Cup trophies. He also lifted the Egyptian Premier League and the Egyptian Cup.

Despite the success, Nedved is of the belief the ex-Bafana Bafana coach succumbed to the pressure that comes with managing the record 12-time African champions.

“Mosimane received sufficient appreciation at Al Ahly and was not treated unfairly. But he could not bear with the pressure he was exposed to afterwards,” he told ON Sport 1.

"Football in South Africa is not played under the pressures that occur at Al Ahly. They are used to the idea of a legitimate coach like Jose Riveiro.

While he insists pressure got to Mosimane, the former Egypt under-23 international hailed how he conducted his training sessions and the tactics that saw Ahly win their first Champions League title since 2013, at the expense of bitter rivals Zamalek.

“Mosimane is a smart coach and his work in training was limited to the technical part for 20 minutes, giving the players instructions, and leaving the rest of the training to his assistants,” Nedved added.

"In the Champions League final against Zamalek, Mosimane told us that in order to win, we had to start the match with strong pressure to score an early goal and we did that.