Kaizer Chiefs Nedbank Cup

Pitso Mosimane, coach of Mamelodi Sundowns during the MTN8 2019 Mamelodi Sundowns press conference at PSL Offices, Johannesburg, on 29 August 2019 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Mosimane refuses to acknowledge Kaizer Chiefs as PSL title rivals

Kaizer Chiefs are not on Mamelodi Sundowns level according to coach Pitso Mosimane who stressed his side’s recent achievements.

Kaizer Chiefs Nedbank Cup

Pitso Mosimane, coach of Mamelodi Sundowns during the MTN8 2019 Mamelodi Sundowns press conference at PSL Offices, Johannesburg, on 29 August 2019 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says that his team run their own race and he does not consider Kaizer Chiefs to be the club’s direct rivals.

Sundowns are the most successful club of the PSL-era while Chiefs lay claim to being the most decorated club in South African football, but Mosimane doesn’t feel it is helpful to pit Amakhosi against his team.

Mosimane’s team go into the international break ten points behind Chiefs with a game in hand having missed out on an opportunity to close the gap to seven points on Monday night.

A blunder from Sundowns keeper Denis Onyango saw the Brazilians slump to a 3-2 defeat to Golden Arrows in a soggy Durban.

‘It’s not Kaizer Chiefs who are only our rivals’

“Fifteen teams are our rivals, it’s not Kaizer Chiefs who are only our rivals,” Mosimane said after the loss.

“Wits are our rivals, Pirates are our rivals, so is SuperSport United and all other teams, so Kaizer Chiefs is not our direct rivals.

“So I don’t understand why you put them as our rivals unless if you say who is first and who is second, then it’s okay, I would understand your question.”

Jingles would give the devils their due when it comes to the PSL title race, saying Chiefs were in the race but said that his team had to focus on their programme. Mosimane emphasized Sundowns participation of the Caf Champions League as a subtle dig at Kaizer Chiefs who finished outside of the top eight for the first time in PSL history last season.

“But if you put them there, I would ask where is Pirates, where is Wits? But if you talk about at the moment, they have a chance, and they have a lead, then it’s true they are winning hey.

“You can question how they win; it’s your issue. You can stay in the corner and try to question and justify, but at the moment they are winning. They score their chances, you know. They are doing very well.

“We as Sundowns for the last six years we’ve run a race with all the teams. We ran a race for the first three years with Chiefs, and we won it twice they won once. We won the race with Wits, they came in they won once and they lost it, and then we ran a race with Pirates for the last two years.

“So we are running races my friend, every year for the last six years, and we are happy to run races you know, so it’s okay it’s not new.

“We lose races sometimes. Sometimes we win them. So if we lose it’s okay, but we’ve got other things, Champions League also, a bigger problem than any other team in the PSL so.”

Why there are not more Kaizer Chiefs players in the Bafana squad

Sundowns will return to Durban to face Golden Arrows in their next assignment which is the Telkom Knockout semi-final scheduled for Saturday 23 November.