South African coach Pitso Mosimane has spoken for the first time since his departure from Al Ahly.
The Egyptian giants announced the news, which sent shock waves through the African continent, earlier on Monday.
Al Ahly parted ways with Mosimane on the coach’s request after the board of directors had decided to continue with the coach. The Club of the Century stated the club’s leadership “decided to approve his request to part ways with the club”.
Mosimane himself has now broken his silence on his amicable departure and his 20 months reign with the Egyptian giants, in a statement published by his agency MT Sports.
As-Salaam-Alaikum,
As you know, there have been meetings between myself, the board led by President
Mahmoud El Khatib, Mr Yassin Mansour, the board members and Planning Committee
members in recent days. We have reached a mutual agreement to part ways.
Therefore, I am sad to announce that I, together with my technical team, Kabelo
Rangoaga, Musi Matlaba and Kyle Solomon will be leaving Al Ahly S.C with immediate
effect.
The journey that will always remain in our hearts started in October 2020. The warmth
and love we were welcomed with made us feel already at home. Although we felt the
pressure as we were joining the Club of the Century, we knew that we were sent to
Cairo for a reason. That reason was to deliver.
Our first mission was to complete the job of obtaining the CAF Champions League title.
With little time and pressure, we, together with the rest of the team, fulfilled the mandate
and caught the big fish in the Nile River. We delivered.
We were then mandated to bring the Egypt Cup back home and with a strong team.
Mandate was fulfilled.
The journey continued and saw us being placed on a world stage at the FIFA Club World
Cup. We anaylsed, prepared, trained, and worked tirelessly to prove that we indeed can
face the world’s best. The red nation in Doha received us with songs and cheers that
made us feel empowered. A Bronze medal was obtained and on the world stage, we
delivered. We sealed off the 2020 season with the CAF Super Cup champions title and
once again, we delivered.
The 2021 season would be our first full season with the Club of the Century. With the
overwhelming support and love from the board led by President Mahmoud El Khatib
and the red nation, a few months later we conquered and brought back the CAF
Champions League trophy to our cabinet.
Our journey met a bump on the road when we missed out on the league title and the
Egyptian Super Cup in September 2021 but we soared on with the support of our fans.
The CAF Super Cup 2021 was waiting for us in December 2021 and we heard its call.
We delivered.
The new year started with league games and CAF Champions League group stage
games. However, we had another task at hand, to improve our place at the FIFA Club
World Cup. We put our suits on and set off to Abu Dhabi to represent our continent.
With great challenge, we maintained our third-place title. And once again, we delivered.
The remainder of the CAF Champions League tournament proved to be very
challenging and although we encountered some bruises and scabs along the way, we
worked our way into the finals. Although the mandate was not fulfilled, our supporters
made us feel like champions. We were down, but they uplifted our spirits and delivered
A common theme throughout our journey was challenging the status quo and placing
our team amongst the world’s best. For the first time in Al Ahly history, the team was
led to the CAF Champions League final three times in a row by a Sub-Saharan African
technical team
This team delivered all of these victories within a period of 20 months.
I would like to thank Captain Bebo immensely for placing his trust and belief in me and
my South African technical team. His patience, cooperation, leadership, and humility
made my job much easier and allowed me to ensure that his desires are fulfilled. Being
the Coach of the biggest club on the continent has been a dream of mine that has come
true and I will forever be grateful
To the Board, the management and the players, thank you for trusting my instincts and
bringing my wishes to life. Without you, none of these would have been possible
To the red nation, the 70 million Al Ahly fans that have stood by me throughout this
journey, you have truly inspired me. I have never felt so loved and valued so far away
from home. Your passion for football is something I will take with me wherever I go and
use it for my inspiration. Shukran.
I am truly humbled and hope we cross paths again and reunite Inshallah.
Allahamdulilah, Shukran.
Al Ahly Explain Pitso Departure
