Pitso Mosimane


Pitso John Hamilton Mosimane is a South African former professional football player and current coach.
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Club career

Mosimane started his senior career at Jomo Cosmos, then he played for Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, before joining Greek club Ionikos to play under coach Nikos Alefantos. He later joined Belgian team KFC Rita Berlaar and Qatari club Al Sadd.

Coaching career

Mosimane was an assistant coach to the under-11 players during his tenure with the Belgian club KFC Rita Berlaar, then he returned to South Africa to coach Mamelodi Sundowns reserves. The late Ted Dumitru inspired him to become a coach.

Supersport United

Mosimane joined Supersport United as an assistant coach to Bruce Grobbelaar, then he became the head coach from 2001 until 2007, where he finished second in 2001–02 and 2002–03 in the Premier Soccer League.

South Africa national team

Mosimane served as the caretaker coach of the [South Africa national association football|football team|South African national team], nicknamed as Bafana Bafana, for seven games in 2007, prior to the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as head coach of the national team, whom Mosimane served as an assistant coach under during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also served as assistant to Joel Santana during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Parreira's successor and later predecessor.
On 15 July 2010, Mosimane was named as the new head coach of South Africa and was handed a four-year contract. He won his first game in charge in a 1–0 win over World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana. South Africa failed to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations after Mosimane mistakenly played for a draw in the final qualifier against Sierra Leone, when in fact a victory was required.

Mamelodi Sundowns

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 10th best coach in the world for 2016, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
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 quarter-finals, in 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 Mamelodi Sundowns coach.

Al Ahly

On 30 September 2020, Mosimane was announced to be the head coach of Al Ahly. He was the first non-Egyptian African to manage the club.
On 27 November 2020, Mosimane led Al Ahly to their 9th CAF Champions league title, after winning the 2020 final against their rivals Zamalek, and to qualify to the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup, where they eventually finished in third place after beating Palmeiras on penalties. On 6 December 2020, he led Al Ahly to win the Egyptian Cup. In May 2021, he guided the football club to win the African Super Cup against RS Berkane in Doha, Qatar.
On 17 July 2021, Al Ahly won their second CAF Champions league title under Mosimane and their 10th in total after a 3–0 win over Kaizer Chiefs in the final. Rory Smith argued that this eight-month tenure, in which Al Ahly won three trophies, made Mosimane one of the best managers in world football for the year. In December 2021, he won another African Super Cup in Qatar against Raja Casablanca. On 13 June 2022, Al Ahly accepted Mosimane's request to step down as their manager.

Al-Ahli Jeddah

On 25 September 2022, Mosimane was appointed as manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli Jeddah. He left in June 2023 after guiding them to promotion, and had claimed that he and his technical staff had not been paid since January.

Al Wahda

On 18 June 2023, shortly after his departure from Al Ahli Jeddah, Mosimane joined Abu Dhabi side Al Wahda along with his technical staff. Later that year, on 10 November, Al-Wahda announced the terminated of contract with Mosimane by mutual consent.

Abha

On 26 January 2024, Mosimane joined Saudi Arabia club Abha on a four-month contract which would take him to the end of the season.

Esteghlal

On 18 October 2024, Mosimane was appointed coach of Iranian club Esteghlal in the Persian Gulf Pro League.
He terminated his contract on 28 January 2025 with Esteghlal due to financial problems. His results during his time at Esteghlal were very poor.

Honours and achievements

Player

Ionikos

Manager

Supersport United
Mamelodi Sundowns
Al Ahly
Al-Ahli

Individual