Pitso blames officials for Sundowns’ Caf exit
Pitso Mosimane tried to deflect blame onto the match officials in Tshwane in the first leg, after Mamelodi Sundowns were edged out of the Caf Champions League by Wydad Casablanca in the second leg of their quarterfinal in Morocco on Saturday night.
Pitso Mosimane (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Wydad won 3-2 on penalties, after the tie finished 1-1 on aggregate, with both sides winning their home legs 1-0. Percy
Tau and Bangaly Soumahoro missed their penalties while Yannick Zakri had his attempt saved to see the home side through. The result brought to an end Masandawana’s defence of a title they won in dramatic fashion last year.
Mosimane is of the opinion that his team were let down by the officials in the first leg, claiming the Brazilians had three incorrect offside calls, which he believes would have been goals.
READ: Sundowns bow out of Africa after penalty defeat
“I think we lost the game in Pretoria,” the Sundowns coach told reporters after the game.
“We had three balls ruled offside but they were not. That is when the goals were gone, we would’ve scored three times, but we understand and congratulations to Wydad.
“At least we showed them we wanted to play and we were not afraid. We were not scared to lose, we saw that they could not take the stress, the stress levels were too much for them, we played in their half and there was too much pressure. There was pressure in the first half from them, but not in the second half,” added the former Bafana Bafana mentor about the second leg.
“In Pretoria Wydad never crossed the halfway line and we went to Morocco to attack. I regret the game in Pretoria, it is very sad for football that three situations are ruled offside but weren’t really offside,” he added.
The African Coach-of-the-Year, who was visibly frustrated at pitch-side, also lamented the manner in which the opposition were aggressive towards his players.
“Their No 6 (Brahim Nakach) went directly to my player and he pushed him down. That is aggressive, it is violence and deserves a yellow card and that is why my mood changed.
“But I have to give them credit. We played very well, and went there to attack. In football, when it comes to penalties, anyone can win.”
READ: No call for Pitso’s men to feel down
