Pitso Mosimane has announced his starting XI to face Asian champions Al Hilal in the third-place playoff at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The CAF Champions League will take on Al Hilal at 15:30 in Abu Dhabi today, aiming to secure back-to-back bronze medals.
“Al-Hilal have a lot of good players, they proved to be a strong team against Chelsea,” Mosimane said in the pre-match press conference.
“They have players that have previously represented Premier League clubs, but we are not worried. We will be fighting for bronze medals.
“We are proud to be here for the seventh time, but our goal is to come back here and win the title.”
The Club of the Century have brought two bronze medals to Africa so far and Mosimane could become the first coach in the club’s and Africa’s history finish third at the Club World Cup twice.
Mosimane also touched on the criticism he may receive after not improving on the third-place finish he achieved last season.
“Criticism is part of football, I’ve seen Pep Guardiola being criticized so who am I to avoid it. I believe it can be a motive that pushes you forward, that’s why we need it to improve.
“The fans are always here for us, they support me because I am a part of the team, and I love them. I also love this club [Al Ahly] and I believe we will be able to return to the Club World Cup over and over to write history.
“Right now, we are being criticized because we failed to qualify for the Club World Cup final, people are saying you could have done better.
Meanwhile, it’s Al Hilal’s second Club World Cup third-place playoff after they lost the 2019 version on penalties to Monterrey.
Al Ahly XI: Ali Lotfi; Mohamed Hany, Mohamed Abdelmenem, Yasser Ibrahim, Ali Ma’aloul; Aliou Dieng, Amr El-Sulya, Hamdi Fathi; Taher, Hussein El-Shahat, Mohamed Sherif.
