Pitso Mosimane has opened up about the pressure of working at Al Ahly and what former Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro can expect after taking the job.
Riveiro was unveiled as Al Ahly coach two weeks ago, replacing Marcell Koller, who was sacked a day after losing the CAF Champions League semi-final to Mamelodi Sundowns in the final minute of the game, despite winning 14 trophies among them back-to-back African crowns.
Mosimane has shared how the standards are so high at the Cairo-based club that winning the league is not considered success unless a coach brings Champions League glory and impresses at the Club World Cup.
“It is like Johannesburg football club, everybody supports that club in Johannesburg. Imagine if you are the coach of that team. When you move, wherever you are, it is the only team they support,” Mosimane said on SuperSport TV over how big coaching Al Ahly is.
Pitso shares the pressures of managing Al Ahly
“So that is how big it can be and how intensive and it shows the responsibility and [it is] humbling.”
The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach explained how all new Al Ahly coaches are taken through the league titles the club has won to show them that it is a formality and only winning Champions League is considered success.
“When you come to coach Al Ahly, they show you how many… the first thing they did, they took me to a museum and they showed me the league trophies they have won and number of cups they won,” he added.
“So basically, they are saying to you if you win the league for us, we have won it 37 times so excuse me! When you win the league for us, it is that thing we won last year.
What can Riveiro expect from Club of the Century?
“It is another space but then I asked; ‘what is my role here?’ They said; ‘six, seven years we have not won the Champions League, we have not been in the international space. So, we want to play the Club World Cup, we want to conquer Africa again. That is your job. We want to go to the Club World Cup and give us a medal.’
“That is all want you to do [but] league, cup is like Nedbank Cup, these things we have won them all. So, you have to understand the pressure.”
That is the pressure Riveiro can expect at Al Ahly after similarly being taken through the club’s museum when he arrived before he was unveiled to the media.
The former Pirates coach is already under pressure to win a medal at the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States with his team set to face Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami, Portuguese giants FC Porto and Brazilian side Palmeiras at the group stage.
