Pitso Mosimane: I needed Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah

Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane believes his side could have won the Fifa Club World Cup had they had African superstars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah at their disposal.

Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly were defeated 2 – 0 by European powerhouse Bayern Munich in the semi-final round of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Al Ahly were ultimately undone by arguably the world’s best footballer at the current moment in the form of Robert Lewandowski who scored a brace against Pitso Mosimane’s side.

If we had Mane and Salah…. – Pitso Mosimane

African duo of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have been critical to Jurgen Klopp’s success in Europe over the past few seasons. The pair have helped Liverpool win the UEFA Champions League as well as the English Premier League.

Pitso Mosimane has since claimed that his Fifa Club World Cup campaign could have looked a lot more different had he had Jurgen Klopp’s African stars at his disposal against quality opponents like Bayern Munich.

“We believe we could have won the World Cup, but let’s talk about reality. In reality, it is very difficult to win the World Cup.” Pitso Mosimane told KingFut.

“You know, we played a team that’s very strong Bayern. Maybe if I had Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, maybe we could have talked a different talk when we played Bayern Munich.

“So let’s be honest and accept what we are and where we are and a little bit of humility and respect for football. I am just Pitso Mosimane and we are just Al Ahly. We got the right results. We got the bronze medal. Yes, who remembers the bronze medal? Nobody.”

We are proud of our performance – Mosimane

“It’s a World Cup, so if you come third, I think Africa should not be disgraced about us becoming third. At least we got a medal.” – Pitso Mosimane added.

“We defeated the Conmebol (South American) champions also, it’s a milestone, and we won two out of three games and the game we didn’t win, I mean, very difficult to win that match against Bayern Munich. That one we lost. But we are proud of the team. We are proud of the boys.”

Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly will now switch their attention to the CAF Champions League where they face Sudan outfit Al Merrikh on Tuesday night.