Having won the domestic league and cup in Egypt and the 2020 Caf Champions League, the former Sundowns coach now tests himself against Europe’s best

Pitso Mosimane’s first appearance at the Fifa Club World Cup didn’t end well as Mamelodi Sundowns went home with their tails between their legs, now five years later he gets a second shot at the competition with his Al Ahly side.

With the much vaunted ‘CBD’ combination (Leonardo Castro, Khama Billiat and Keagan Dolly) at the forefront of their campaign, Sundowns were crowned 2016 Caf Champions League winners after seeing off Zamalek 3-1 over the two-legged home and away final.

A team also containing legendary Sundowns players such as Hlompho Kekana, Wayne Arendse, Denis Onyango and Liberian international Anthony Laffor, along with a young-up-and-coming Percy Tau, then made their way to the Club World Cup in Japan with high hopes.

And when they were drawn against local side Kashima Antlers in the quarter-finals, there was optimism that Pitso Mosimane’s men could advance to the latter stages and potentially play the likes of a Real Madrid or South America’s Colombian champions Atletico Nacional.

Certainly, based on their performance in the first half against Antlers, Sundowns could have progressed.

But instead they paid the price for missing a host of chances – more than 10 in the opening 45 minutes, and emboldened by the half-time stalemate, and perhaps with Sundowns feeling the effects of jet-lag, the Japanese side fought back in the second half to score two unanswered goals.

A disappointing 4-1 defeat in the fifth-place play-off to Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, with Tau getting the solitary goal, and the campaign ended on a disappointing note.

It’s not many coaches who win multiple Champions League titles and get a second shot at the Club World Cup, but fast forward five years and that’s exactly what Mosimane has done, after winning the 2020 Caf Champions League with Al Ahly.

Now, thanks to Hussein El Shahat’s 30th-minute winner in the quarter-finals against Al Duhail SC of the host country, Qatar, Mosimane finally gets his chance to take on the world’s best.

And while he missed out on playing against Real Madrid with Sundowns, Monday’s tie with Al Ahly against Bayern Munich is equally as mouthwatering.

It’s a long way from what by Mosimane’s own admission were humble beginnings in Soweto, but he has certainly earned the right to the world’s stage and to test his skills against Bayern coach Hans Dieter Flick’s star-studded side.

Source:Goal.com