Exclusive: How Pitso Mosimane Built a Winning Empire That Still Powers South African Football

Former Mamelodi Sundowns defender Wayne Arendse looks back at the Pitso Mosimane era, where he coached the side to their first and only CAF Champions League title, highlights the coach's winning philosophy and how Bafana Bafana is benefiting from his efforts.

The Winning Mentality

When Pitso Mosimane was appointed as head coach at Mamelodi Sundowns over a decade ago, the club had little to no presence in African football.

Even locally, apart from being owned by one of Africa's richest men and now CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe, the Sundowns brand carried very little weight.

Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates called the shots both locally and on the continent.

Mosimane brought a league title in his second season at Mamelodi Sundowns and went on to win four more league titles during his eight years at the club.

With his mission of dominating domestically accomplished, the coach set his sights on the CAF Champions League.

In 2016, the coach created history, winning the club's first and only CAF Champions League title.

Former defender, Arendse, in an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.co.za, revealed that Mosimane had to change everything at Sundowns for them to achieve the success that they did.

"I remember him coming through the doors, and they introduced a new coach, and it was Coach Pitso. He changed everything at Sundowns, from the canteen where we ate our lunch and breakfast, the fields, and the philosophy that he came there with was about winning. Everybody needed to be on top of their game, whether you were working as the groundsman, whatever you were doing, he demanded excellence," Arendse told SportsBoom.co.za.

"That rubbed off on the players as well because ultimately he wanted success on the field, and it showed and it paid off because like I said, he brought a winning mentality and he planted that seed there."

"People saw from the outside that Sundowns is doing things differently, and it showed in the results, and he made it known because we did things differently than other people. He reminded the players to take their careers more seriously, watch the games more, and watch the opponent more."

"All these things, when you look back on it, and you think he was 100% right, and that's why he got the success that he is currently having. Going on to win three Champions Leagues with Al Ahly and Sundowns. His presence there was big."

Impact on Bafana Bafana

Arendse argued that the country is still benefiting from Mosimane's time at Sundowns.

The 40-year-old told SportsBoom.co.za that the recent success of the national team and some of the clubs in the country, including Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch, is inspired by the success that Mosimane brought at Sundowns.

"When Sundowns won the Champions League, everybody wanted to do it. Pirates and Chiefs wanted to do it, to be in the Champions League, and everybody wanted to beat Sundowns. So when you want to beat sundowns automatically, you need to get stronger, you need to work harder, and you can see it's rubbing off," said Arendse.

"Ultimately the national team is also benefiting from that and it shows because when you have your Pirates competing in the Champions League going to this to this semi-final, having Stellenbosch up there,  it shows that it's not a fluke that under 20s went on to win the championship and we're doing well in our national teams."

"The thing is the consistency thereafter. I just think we shouldn't stop here now. Those boys who won AFCON should keep playing together, keep playing tournaments, playing international friendlies, and just exposing them. The worst thing that can happen is that we lose these boys down the line because we're not playing international friendlies, and they are no longer playing games with each other."

"That can be the worst thing. Even Bafana Bafana are getting stronger and better because the majority of players are from Sundowns, you know, the majority of the players. There are many things that South Africa is doing right, and the national teams are benefiting as a country."

Mamelodi Sundowns will be hoping to continue to push the envelope as they head to the United States to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup later this week.