Will South Africa ever produce a coach like Al Ahly’s Pitso Mosimane?

When Pitso Mosimane won his fifth league title with Mamelodi Sundowns at the end of the 2019-20 PSL season, he was urged to prove himself elsewhere.

This was a challenged posed to Mosimane as he had won every domestic trophy on offer.

Continentally, he lifted the CAF Champions League and the CAF Super Cup.  

Mosimane accepted the challenge and joined Al Ahly, who desperately wanted to reclaim their crown as the continent’s best club wining the Champions League.

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And Mosimane delivered, and he’s now in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup with Al Ahly where they will face Bayern Munich following a narrow 1-0 win over Al-Duhail.

This is an incredible achievement, not only for Mosimane and Al Ahly, but for the entire continent.

Now, the question is whether or not the country can produce another coach like Mosimane…

South Africa has young and gifted coaches who are have the potential to be among the best on the continent.

However, very few have been afforded the same chance as Mosimane in the top-flight, and this is a disadvantage.

But in recent years, local coaches have been given the chance to prove themselves in the PSL, including the likes of Mandla Ncikazi and Manqoba Mngqithi at Golden Arrows and Sundowns respectively.

There are also coaches such as Eric Tinkler and Clinton Larsen waiting on the wings, while Gavin Hunt is at Kaizer Chiefs and trying to change their fortunes around.

And this is promising.

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It is promising because it means there is a glimmer of hope for the country to see their rise from the ashes, and possibly reach the level of Mosimane.

ERIC TINKLER

Tinkler became the first South African-born coach to play in two CAF Confederation Cup finals with Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

He fell short of winning the continental title, and if given an opportunity at an ambitious club, the former Cape Town City mentor could definitely emulate Mosimane.

Tinkler has already proven himself at Pirates, City, SuperSport and Maritzburg United.

MANQOBA MNGQITHI

Mngqithi inherited the best club with top players in the country, and all eyes are on him to see if he can achieve what Mosimane did with almost the same players.

The soft-spoken tactician hasn’t won anything yet but things are looking promising for him in the league as the Brazilians are at the summit of the PSL log at half-way mark.

Sundowns  are also in the group stages of the CAF Champions League, and it is how the team will fare that will determine if Mngqithi was ever ready for the position he holds with Rhulani Mokwena.

GAVIN HUNT    

Hunt is in the building phase with Amakhosi but he cannot finish the project without bringing in some new signings for the upcoming season.

Despite reaching the group stages of the CAF Champions League, it is rather far-too-fetched that Hunt, with the current squad, would go all the way and win the continental trophy.

The team has been struggling domestically, and they haven’t shown any signs of a competitive team in the CAF Champions Leaue, and therefore, Hunt needs more time to work on his philosophy before he can deliver trophies.

Hunt has four league titles to his name, and has won many domestic trophies before, and it’s a matter of time before he can emulate Mosimane, provided he has the right players at his disposal.