Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane, the head coach of Al-Ahly gestures before the Egyptian Premier League soccer match between Al-Ahly and Pyramids at Salam Stadium in Cairo Egypt, 11 October 2020. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI

Pitso Mosimane reveals special team message ahead of Club World Cup

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed how his players are preparing for their opening match against Al-Duhail at the Club World Cup.

Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane, the head coach of Al-Ahly gestures before the Egyptian Premier League soccer match between Al-Ahly and Pyramids at Salam Stadium in Cairo Egypt, 11 October 2020. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed how his players are preparing for their opening match against Al-Duhail at the Club World Cup in Qatar.

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Al Ahly are set to face Al-Duhail in the opening game of the Club World Cup on Thursday, 4 February.

Kick-off is at 19:30 SA time.

Very little is known about Al-Duhail apart from the fact they are currently second in the Qatar Stars League, 13 points behind leaders Al Sadd after 15 matches.

Last season Al-Duhail won the league.

As winners of the CAF Champions League, Al Ahly will represent the African continent at the tournament.

According to the KingFut website, Pitso Mosimane has revealed what he told his players ahead of the encounter.

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“Preparation for the Al-Duhail match is like any other match in the league or Champions League. We prepare well for the African matches and that is why we won the title.

“Injuries are part of the game, but the injuries Al Ahly players sustained have increased since my arrival, due to the pressure of matches.

“Also, every player wants to participate in all the games and when they feel pain, they keep playing until they’re injured.

“We will try in the coming period to find more solutions to these injuries.

“The match preparation programs are different from what they were.

“As you saw, Al Ahly players were watching Al-Duhail matches while traveling from Cairo to Doha to study the team well. Before, this task was exclusively for the manager.

“Al-Duhail is a very strong and dangerous team and has a very strong attacking line that includes very distinguished players from Brazil.

“They also have very good defenders such as Mehdi Benatia, the former Juventus player.

“I warned the players from Al Duhail, but in a way that does not scare them, it’s just so they know the size of their opponent,” Pitso Mosimane added.

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The winner of the encounter will face European champions Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.

“People talk about the Bayern Munich match, but how will we play against Bayern if we don’t win against Al-Duhail?” Mosimane explained.

“We must be very strong against Al-Duhail and focus and produce an exceptional performance in order to win.

“When I took charge of Al Ahly 4 months ago, they asked me to win the African Champions League, then the Egypt Cup, and now the Club World Cup, and this is normal.

“I would like to tell the players to always give everything during this tournament, which includes teams with a high technical level and huge budgets.

“And that Al Ahly is not smaller than these teams, and the club’s value and its global image is very important.

“When you fight and give everything, whether you lose or win, you will have the respect of the masses.

“I told them that all Egyptians support them because we represent Egypt. The same goes for African fans in general.

“I hope to have conveyed this important message to them, so that they understand the size of the responsibility they have.

“I played against Al Ahly four times and felt the strength of its fans, but here, unfortunately, the number will be much lower.

“But we cannot ask for more than that, because we are already playing behind closed doors,” Pitso Mosimane concluded.

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