Pitso Mosimane full of praise for just ONE Mamelodi Sundowns player

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane was full of praise for one Mamelodi Sundowns star following his side’s 2-0 win over his former employers in the first leg of their CAF Champions League quarter-final in Cairo on Saturday.

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The match was Pitso Mosimane’s first against his former side since parting ways with Masandawana in October 2020.

The teams will do battle in the second leg in Pretoria on Saturday, 22 May at 15:00.

In his post-match press conference, Mosimane shared his thoughts on the game and singled out Sphelele Mkhulise for special praise.

Pitso Mosimane promoted the 25-year-old Mkhulise to the Mamelodi Sundowns first team back in 2018.

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“Sphelele Mkhulise is a wonderful player. He is similar to [N’Golo] Kante and [Andres] Iniesta. He is a promising young man, and I was behind his promotion to the first team, and today he has shown his quality,” Mosimane said.

Pitso Mosimane was hesitant to speak about too many Mamelodi Sundowns players out of fear that he would be accused of trying to poach his former stars!

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“I do not want to talk much about the Sundowns players because the media will say that I want to sign them for Al Ahly. The only player that we have already negotiated for Al Ahly was Gastón Sirino.”

“It was a difficult match, but we knew how to manage it and we have no excuses because Al Ahly is a big team. Sundowns is a great team, and their off-ball movements are good. They are among the favorites to win the Champions League because of their style of playing,” he added.

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Mamelodi Sundowns went behind to a 23rd-minute striker from Taher Mohamed but looked to have limited the damage until goalkeeper Denis Onyango misjudged an innocent looking hoof upfield in the 89th minute which resulted in a simple tap-in for Salah Mohsen.

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