The Red Eagles secured qualification to the CAF Champions League final for the second season in a row after defeating Esperance of Tunisia 4-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Our team has no time to rest as we will be back to the domestic scene with four postponed league matches before the CAF Champions League final against South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs on 17 July in Casablanca.

We had a fascinating meeting with our head coach, Pitso Mosimane after the team returned to training at El Tetsh Stadium. He hosted us at his office to discuss the team’s incredible success in the CAF Champions League competition and his thoughts on the team’s upcoming challenges in the league.

Congratulations boss on reaching the CAF Champions League final, how did you prepare the team for the semi-final against Esperance?

“Thank you. It is important that our team has made it to the final. We did our best to reach the final and of course, when you are in the final, you want to win the cup because you are already there. It was not an easy preparation for the two legs. Two different tactics and sometimes the tactics change as the game goes on. I think we started the first 10 minutes in Tunisia very well, but they started better than us in the second leg. Of course, the players were more concerned about protecting the 1-0 lead and it is not easy, but we managed to win the game.”

What did you tell the players after winning the second leg and reaching the final?

“We did not speak after the match because it was all about the emotions. We spoke after we returned to training. We congratulated them after taking the team to the final. It is our job, but it is not easy. We all have the responsibility towards the team; we all have the responsibility towards our supporters to take the team to the cup final. We are back to the domestic league and we have a game against Pyramids and they are a very good team. It is now time for the players to regenerate. We had a game on Saturday and we are back to training and that shows how serious we are. We are regenerating to get the fatigue away. We are done with what happened with Esperance and we are now moving forward.”

Of course, it was not an easy journey, tell us about the challenges that you faced in the route to the final?

“There is no easy way to go the final. You find hurdles that you have to go through to reach your goal. Not everybody will understand how difficult it was to play against AS SONIDEP in Niger. It was a very difficult game with the hot weather and also the pitch was not good. To go there and have the right mentality was important. At home, it was much better, we played at night and it was a bit cool and we had a normal game. I think the game against Simba SC in the group stage in Tanzania was the most difficult one. They opened the stadium to 50 thousand fans, which we cannot complain about it, but we did not expect it. They faced us at 2:00 PM and the conditions were difficult. Look at the footage that you shot in Tanzania; it was not possible to train there.  Also, we had a difficult game against Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa and we had to protect the 2-0 lead in the first leg. Thank god we scored early in the game which really helped us. But also we had a busy schedule in the league before facing Sundowns and we played the Cairo derby against Zamalek in mid-week. We played Simba, Mamelodi Sundowns, and Esperance to reach the final. It was not easy for us and we worked very hard to be where we are.”

How do you see the game against Kaizer Chiefs?
“I knew Kaizer Chiefs when I was in South Africa but I do not know that much about them this season because they changed the coach and removed him to bring another coach. In the domestic league, they did not play very well. Normally, they are always second, third, or fourth behind Mamelodi Sundowns, it is like Al Ahly and Zamalek here in Egypt. They are a good team but this season in the league, they were in the 12th position at some stage. You must not look at their performance in the league; you must focus on their journey in the CAF Champions League because it is not easy to reach the final.”

How do you describe Kaizer Chiefs as a team?

“You never know with them, they can play a very good game and sometimes they do not show the same performance. They lost 4-0 to Wydad in a neutral venue and then they went to face Wydad in Morocco and won. They defeated Simba 4-0 at home but lost 3-0 in Tanzania. You must not try to make sense out of it, just focus on the game. Their best games were in the Champions League not in the domestic league, so we will focus on their games in the Champions League.”

How do you describe your relationship with the players?

“I enjoy a great relationship with the players. I always tell them to play for themselves, for the badge, for their families and I come after. I am just giving them the direction of how they must play, the game plan, what I think about the opponents, and their strengths and weaknesses. I tell them how to minimize our weaknesses and maximize our strengths.”

You have a special bond with Afsha and we all saw your celebration with him against Esperance, tell us more about that celebration?

“Afsha has a high sense of humor and he told me that we should celebrate together after scoring a goal. I said okay and he taught me how to do it. I like to do it because it is related to scoring goals; it is just not a celebration for nothing. Football is a business, but we should also have fun when we play football.”

Akram Tawfik was one of the best players in the two games against Esperance, how have you prepared him for playing a different role in such decisive games?

“Akram played as a right-back before but we played him as a full-back against Esperance. He seems to be the best person when he plays as a full-back because he is equally balanced. He can defend and attack. The formation we played against Esperance suits him a lot because he is a midfielder and he is comfortable with the ball and he knows how to play football and he can send crosses. He is also a very physical player and very strong in a one against one situation. We had many injuries in that position as Hany and Beckham were injured and Akram came over and played. Before Akram, we used Ramy Rabia as a right-back and a central midfielder, but his normal position is a center-back. It is good to have players who can play in different positions. Hamdy is a central midfielder, but he also played as a false center back and drops between the center backs. Maaloul also plays as a full-back and he is a left-back. The only players who have not changed their positions are Aliou Dieng, Amr El Soulia, and Mohamed Sherif. Of course, we have our own way of playing and our principles, but sometimes I think if I change the game plan a little bit, it will give us an advantage. You cannot say we only play in one way. I changed the formation when I went to Sundowns but when we faced RS Berkane, we returned back to our normal formation. Also, we played in Tunisia in the same way we used against Sundowns and with the same formation.”

How do you feel about facing two teams from South Africa in this edition of the CAF Champions League?

“I do not have personal emotions on Kaizer Chiefs, no personal emotions and that is what I did also when I faced Sundowns. The match against Kaizer Chiefs is not about me and it is not about South Africa; It is about my team and the 90 minutes we have to win the title.”

What will you do to prepare the players for the league games after reaching the CAF Champions League final?

“It is a difficult question but it is a very good one. I am a football coach; I am not a psychologist or a motivational speaker. We will wait for the players to come back after the rest because we have been running a different race. Now we have to restart the engine. It is like the difference between formula 1 and the Grand Prix, it is a different route and a different track you are driving on. We are going to have a very heavy program and fortunately, we have got enough players now, players can win you the games. We hope that we remain the same to go through this period. It is a very difficult program.”

How do you see Saturday’s game against Pyramids in the league?

“It is a difficult game. I faced them twice and the two games ended in a draw. The first time I faced them, we played 70 minutes with ten men against eleven and we should have won that match. We did not have the same performance when we played them eleven against eleven and the game ended in a goalless draw.”

After 8 months at Al Ahly, how do you see the cooperation between you and the board?

“I always have meetings with the president, Mahmoud El Khatib, short meetings but very good ones. He asks the right questions to find the direction. He always asks where the team is going, what I think, and what I need. I do not have a complaint and I am happy here.”

Tell us more about your relationship with El Khatib?

“He is a legend. You can see wherever we go how everybody respects him. You can also see the footage of him when he was playing. He is a man of honor, great respect for him. He is a man of few words, but very good words. I am happy to have somebody who played football and understands football. It is very important because he understands how the game goes. I am in a fortunate position, where I have a president who has played football and understands my challenges. He is very intelligent and that helps me.”

What is your message to Al Ahly fans?

“We miss them. I see their pictures and videos on the club’s accounts on social media. We met them in Qatar in the FIFA Club World Cup and the CAF Super Cup because there are many Egyptians who live there. We promise them to do our best to win the CAF Champions League title and play again in the FIFA Club World Cup. We miss them but I understand the situation, we have COVID-19. Fans are back in Europe and hopefully, the fans will be back here. We have to respect the authorities and their efforts to protect the people. We love them and we miss them.”