I am humbled, Mosimane says

Recently crowned Confederation of African Football Coach of the Year Pitso Mosimane has described the accolade as a humbling honour and one of the highlights of his illustrious career. Mosimane was named the coach of the year for 2016 on Thursday during an awards ceremony in Abuja‚ Nigeria, for leading Mamelodi Sundowns to their maiden continental championship title‚ qualifying the team for the World Club World Cup. Goalkeeper Dennis Onyango was named African Player of the Year‚ based in Africa‚ edging out second-placed teammate Khama Billiat‚ while Sundowns were named Club of the Year. Reflecting on his achievement on Saturday‚ the former Bafana Bafana coach said being named the best coach on the continent was a humbling reward and a culmination of four years of hard work and planning behind the scenes at the club. “I feel acknowledged and honoured because we have played football non-stop for 17 months which is not easy,” he said. “These accolades are a highlight for me and everyone associated with the club and it is unbelievable‚” he said. “We work very hard on the pitch and outside the pitch‚ which is something people don’t know.”

For the past few seasons‚ Sundowns held part of their off-season camps outside the country and for Mosimane it was part of the plan to conquer the continent. “We had camps in a number of African countries where the infrastructure is not the best so that we could learn and understand those conditions. “The travelling and matches that we played there on bumpy pitches helped the players to understand the challenges of playing in Africa . . . ” he said. The coach also praised the support from club president Patrice Motsepe and the board who had backed the technical team throughout the four years Mosimane has been in charge of the Brazilians. As a result of Downs’ participation in the Champions League and Club World Cup‚ they will play catch-up when the league resumes next month from its holiday break. “Opponents are going to plan accordingly against us and it is going to be difficult but it is part of football‚” Mosimane said. And he warned that the team would work even harder in the months ahead.