The 18th of May will see South Africa’s most decorated coach, Pitso “Jingles’ ‘ Mosimane, and his Saudi outfit ABAH Football club make their way to the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
They want to try and save their team from getting relegated in the Saudi Professional league.
Mosimane was appointed as the manager of ABAH FC just 5 months ago to help the team survive the dreaded axe, which will take the team to the first division of the Saudi Football League.
The South African and former Mamelodi Sundowns manager will be playing against Al-Ahli at the Shining Jewel Stadium, the second-largest stadium in Saudi Arabia, with a total capacity of approximately 63,000.
With only three matches remaining for the team from Abah, Mosimane knows very well that come Saturday night he will need to win against AlAhli by any means whatsoever to keep their hopes of staying in the Saudi Pro league.
The last time the two teams played against each other was when AlAhli thrashed Abha FC in their backyard in 2023 by six goals to nil (0-6).
Abha would, therefore, like to return the favour to the Jedah based team on Saturday night.
Mosimane and his team, however, will have their work cut out for them at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The club is currently in 15th position in the 18-team league after 31 matches and are just one point above the relegation zone.
Mosimane’s success in African football speaks loudly.
In the 2019/2020 professional football season in South Africa, his then team Mamelodi Sundowns were crowned champions of the Nedbank Cup tournament.
The Brazilians (Mamelodi Sundowns) completed a domestic treble, having lifted the Telkom Knockout Cup and Absa Premiership trophy.
In brief see Pitso Mosimane’s credentials below:
In 2012, Mosimane became the manager of Mamelodi Sundowns. He won the 2016 CAF Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns after defeating Egypt’s Zamalek 3–1 on aggregate, making them the 2nd South African side to win it after Orlando Pirates in 1995.
In December 2016, Mosimane was ranked as the tenth best coach in the world for 2016, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics(IFFHS).
On 5 January 2017, Mosimane won the Coach of the Year accolade at the 2016 Glo-CAF awards in Abuja, Nigeria, after guiding Mamelodi Sundowns to league glory in 2015–16 and claiming the Telkom Knockout trophy which meant Mosimane stood alone as the only coach to have made a clean sweep of all domestic trophies in the PSL era.
On 6 April 2019, Mosimane led his team Mamelodi Sundowns to a 5–0 win against Egyptian club Al Ahly in the 2018–19 CAF Champions League quarterfinals, which he won 5–1 on aggregate to reach the semi-finals.
Mosimane is generally regarded as the most successful manager in South African football history, winning five ABSA Premiership titles with Mamelodi Sundowns. In late September 2020, Mosimane resigned as coach.
On 15 July 2010, Mosimane was named as the new head coach of South Africa and was handed a four-year contract.
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