Mamelodi Sundowns’ head coach Pitso Mosimane is the greatest of all time in South Africa, and will be in that conversation on the continent too.
Don’t “at” me just yet, go grab a glass of water, juice, coffee or your preferred soda. For those that are already in the festive spirit, you might want to add some ice to your choice of beverage for over 18s.
Ama2000s know Bra Jingles for his work currently at Sundowns and maybe a little bit for his role as the Bafana Bafana head coach.
But unlike Ama2000s he’s not a man born yesterday, he has paid his dues and has given SA football his best years.
He’s not a humble man, so it’s understandable that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
He’s always had a chip on his shoulder, even as a player, like his mentor Jomo Sono who gave him his first shot via Screamer Tshabalala to play top-flight football at Jomo Cosmos.
MENTOR: Jomo Sono. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
Jomo, whose father was the owner of Orlando Pirates, was a superstar, but if you would sit with a veteran Pirates fan right now and asked him who the greatest between Jomo and another ex-Buccaneer Kaizer Motaung, you won’t get a straight answer.
And these are the little things that drive the Jomos and the Pitsos to try and prove that they are great too.
Mosimane became the country’s most expensive player when he was sold to Sundowns by Cosmos in the mid-80s, when Screamer brought him over.
Yes it’s true, I know many of you are hearing about this for the first time.
That doesn’t surprise me because even back then he didn’t make headlines, those were reserved for Kaizer Chiefs and their players.
And maybe that’s why, like many of Jomo’s guys, he doesn’t like Amakhosi even today.
He went to Orlando Pirates, still nothing. He was one of the few players to go overseas and actually stay there.
He went to Greece and played there for the better half of his career. And still nothing, they talk about other guys who never even reached his heights.
While many guys plying their trade overseas would get Bafana Bafana calls just for being based abroad, the call didn’t come immediately for the man.
When it did come, he scored in a friendly match against Mauritius back in 1994.
It didn’t convince the coaches of that time to make him a regular, but then again he was in his last few years as a player in the mid-90s and there were exciting, younger prospects.
He took up coaching immediately after hanging up his boots and would always advocate for coaches to get their qualifications instead of being given jobs because they used to play or won the 1996 Afcon.
He was even one of the very vocal founding members of the South African Football Players Union (Safpu).
His first big shot at coaching was with SuperSport United when he took charge of them after being promoted from assistant coach.
That time, Bra Pitso changed things and brought in a host of youngsters who not only played exciting football but they also ended up flooding the various South Africa youth national teams.
PROTEGE: Thando Mngomeni. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
One of those you’ll know very well is one Thando Mngomeni.
At Santos, Gordon Igesund was unsure about him, Clive Barker gave him his debut but didn’t believe he was ready to play regularly.
Mosimane came calling and Mngomeni became an instant hit in the exciting Matsatsantsa a Pitori outfit.
He left for Sweden, but those two years were unforgettable for those who were able to watch Mngomeni in that Mosimane team.
So while many complain, myself included, he doesn’t give young players a chance right now at Sundowns, the man knows how to manage young players.
Think Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly and Percy Tau. They all arrived as very talented youngest at Chloorkop and he took them to the next level. They are all overseas now.
Under Mosimane, SuperSport finished as runners-up in the league 2001/02 and 2002/03 and won their first piece of silverware under their current name SuperSport United - they were known as Pretoria City before that.
His next call was to go and join Bafana Bafana as assistant coach under Ted Dimitru and then later under both Brazilians Carlos Alberto Parreira and Joel Santana.
He later became the main man and he struggled to get Bafana back to glory like every other coach before that, foreign or local.
His moment with Bafana ended really badly and forced him to stay away from the scene. He had more critics than fans.
But he’s used to that, it’s always been the case for him since he was a player. Whatever he achieved, people had their favourites and it wasn’t him.
Even when he took the Sundowns job, he was motivated to making them the best in the country.
He has been voted the SA Coach of the Season four times and won the same title at the Caf awards in 2016.
The only time they finished outside the top two, was when he took over in 2012 and took them from the relegation zone to finish 10th.
They have won all the Cup titles; Nedbank Cup, Telkom Knockout and the big one - Caf Champions League, where they are a regular feature in the tough group stages. And that’s not easy.
I think he has achieved his mission of coaching the best team in the country, but I also think he has become the greatest coach ever in SA football.