Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has explained the reason behind Morocco’s success at the 2022 FIFA World Cup – something he already predicted ahead of the tournament.
Mosimane was speaking at a press conference after his Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools (PMSS) programme had partnered with Curro Holdings, with the first two PMSS opening at the Curro Northern Academy in Polokwane and Curro Meridian Cosmo City in Roodepoort in 2023.
The South African tactician spent a lot of time in Morocco in recent years to complete his CAF Pro Licence, alongside coaches such as Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, becoming the first and to date only SA coach to hold the highest CAF qualification.
At the time, Mosimane already predicted a brilliant future for Morocco and he now explained why the North Africans are thriving at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final for the very first time in their history.
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“iDiski Times, they asked me about Morocco because I’ve made a statement a few months back when I was in Morocco and I told everybody in South Africa that Morocco is a powerhouse and was going to be the biggest powerhouse in African football and also in global football,” he said.
“Because I spent my last three years more in Morocco, learning with all those African coaches, two of them are in the World Cup, they were with me in the class.
“In fact, one was interpreting for me because I did the course in French with French instructors.
“So I told them and everybody says ‘yeah, coach is talking because he’s in Morocco’. I said ‘wait a little bit’.
“After that Morocco won the CAF Champions League against me, I lost the final of the CAF Champions League six months back to Wydad Casablanca, the Moroccan team and the women’s team they beat Mamelodi Sundowns and they’re the champions of Champions league football for ladies and they are in they qualified for the [Women’s] World Cup.
“Now everyone says, asking me ‘did you predict [this Moroccan success]’, I said ‘no, it’s factual’, it’s how the development of football works in Morocco and what they are doing, nobody else is doing.
“In fact, a system and coaching structure that they have for coach education, players and everything, I said ‘they are 20 years ahead’.”
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Morocco now face Portugal in their first ever quarter-final in World Cup history on Saturday.
