Why Mosimane is excited over Pirates potential return to Champions League

The Buccaneers are likely to finish in the top two in the league, and as a result, they will be guaranteed Champions League football next season, a prospect that Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is excited about.

“We know the story of the Champions League, we know what happened to Pirates they have never recovered ever since they went to the Champions League final (in 2013), they are still coming back,” said Mosimane.

“I think next year they will play in the Champions League and we will see the year after how they perform,” he added.

Masandawana made it to the group stages of the Champions League for a third successive year, becoming the first Southern African team to do so.

“Three years in a row and we are among the top two teams in the league. It is not an easy thing to manage. Eric Tinkler (former SuperSport United coach) tried and look at where SuperSport are now,” said Mosimane.

Matsatsantsa A Pitori also advanced to the playoffs of the Confederation Cup while Cape Town City were knocked out on Sunday evening after losing 2-1 to Costa do Sol. However, Mosimane is happy with Benni McCarthy’s ambition to do well in continental football, and urges all South African teams to take continental football seriously.

“I like it because Benni wants to play in Africa. He has played international football and you can see how he takes it, he takes it with good spirit.

“It is good, let’s all go and represent South Africa well. We have got four spots, we should go and do well. SuperSport did well to get to the final although it is difficult because we see what happens afterwards,” Mosimane said.

He continued: “If we want to do well in the Africa Cup of Nations, we need to be there and help Stuart Baxter. He needs to take fighter and guys who will survive. I hope our country will look at football a little bit different because we complain why we haven’t qualified for the Afcon. If you can’t qualify as a club then how do we qualify as a nation?”