Pitso explains wild celebration after Mahlambi goal

Mosimane says what spurred him to join his players at the corner flag was because he and Mahlambi were emotional about the 21-year-old scoring against his former team, and not because his side had put five unanswered goals against the Egyptian giants in their first-leg quarterfinal at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

“When I recruited Phakamani it was very difficult for him,” said Mosimane, who relayed the conversation between him and the former Al-Ahly player before he joined Masandawana.

“The boy was always saying ‘coach please fetch me, I am in the jungle, I am alone, nobody talks to me and I don’t even go to training, they went for pre-season and they left me here alone’. It was too emotional for a 21-year-old to be left there alone like that.

“I said to Phakamani I will do my best. One thing I promised him is that I would bring him back home and I knew that I would give him a small chance and that was the right time for him to score. It was emotional for me because I struggled with Phakamani and I am yet to get him right, he is a youngster. Yes he is a big name at the moment but he needs lots of support.

“I put him in and I told him to go score a goal and send a message and when he scored I was emotional and I went there. I did not go there because of five goals, I could have gone every time they scored but that one meant a lot for him and me. I hope he scores again in Egypt,” said Mosimane.

The return-leg is scheduled for next week in Cairo, and Mosimane says his side will need to double their efforts.

“I hope we can keep the integrity and results and I hope we can protect the big wave that we have done. We don’t have a guarantee but we need to believe in the way we play and we need to double our efforts.”

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