The two South African sides were, however, defeated by the Red Devils in the Caf Champions League
Al Ahly’s board member Khaled El-Darandaly has claimed South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs wanted to take revenge on coach Pitso Mosimane.
On his way to lifting the club’s 10th Champions League trophy, Mosimane saw his side overcome Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarter-finals and Kaizer Chiefs in the final.
“Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns are from South Africa, and both want to take revenge on Mosimane,” El-Darandaly is quoted by KingFut as saying.
“I remember when we were in Sudan, Sundowns had a match the next day, so Al Ahly’s training was pushed earlier so that we could train on the main pitch. However, before we finished our training session, Sundowns arrived and there was a big argument.”
Editors’ Picks
Praising Mosimane’s achievements at Al Ahly, the official said Chiefs were not a weak opponent in the final even though the Egyptian giants emerged as 3-0 winners on July 17.
“Saying that Kaizer Chiefs are weak is nonsense,” he added. “The final could go anywhere, a team that is weak could never reach the final.
“A lot were surprised by El-Khatib’s choice of Pitso Mosimane, and there were those who criticised the choice, but now everyone knows that this choice was correct.
“A great coach is the one who has the ability to win titles. Mosimane spoke to me earlier and expressed his happiness with the confidence he obtained from Al Ahly’s board.”
As Mosimane lifted his third Champions League trophy, he revealed Simba SC of Tanzania were the toughest opponents they came across.
“When we played against Bayern Munich, the best team in the world, people thought we were invincible, our loss against Simba returned us to reality, it was the shock we needed to wake up,” the South African said.
“The Simba game was very difficult, playing against them is exhausting. The Al-Merrikh and Sundowns matches were very difficult too.
“The hardest thing to face as a coach is a random team, which happens a lot with us.”
Al Ahly lost 1-0 to Simba in Dar es Salaam before winning the return leg with a 1-0 margin in Cairo in the group stage.