Pitso's 'benefit' year: Sundowns coach's fiery and outrageous quotes of 2019

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is not just South Africa’s most respected coach on the continent right now‚ he is also without doubt the most colourful provider of fiery‚ at times controversial‚ at times masterfully eloquent quotes.

In 2019 Mosimane‚ who likes to drive and control the narrative and play mind games‚ coined the term “benefiting”‚ giving the word new meaning in terms of officiating decisions‚ as he especially took aim at 2019-20 Absa Premiership leaders Kaizer Chiefs and their coach Ernst Middendorp.

Here are some of Mosimane’s more fiery and outrageous quotes of 2019:

After Sundowns beat nemesis Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca 2-1 in a fiery Caf Champions League Group A game at Lucas Moripe Stadium on January 19:

“They come to South Africa and they want to bully us? No. We are even local. We know what to do. If people bully us we give it back. Gone are the days. … The North Africans are always bullying everybody. Always. They bully referees‚ they bully everybody. They don’t want to lose. They are going to lose tonight. We beat them fair and square. Two legitimate goals.

“They must go home. When we lose at Wydad‚ in Casa‚ we don’t do anything. We walk out properly. What is all this? Wydad are use to winning and bullying and pushing the referees and everybody. Not in Atteridgeville.”

Mosimane begins the mind games ahead of a league match against Chiefs in October‚ claiming Amakhosi had been “benefiting” from officiating decisions:

“They are currently on good form and they are benefiting. They are enjoying the ride at the moment‚ we just have to do what we have to do and we pray that the contributors don’t help them to benefit.

“ … Benni [McCarthy] was crying‚ I am busy crying‚ AmaZulu was complaining‚ Steve Komphela was complaining and even Owen Da Gama is complaining. Who doesn’t complain? They are having a jolly ride on top of the log.”

In the same press conference‚ Mosimane reminds the media that Chiefs coach Middendorp used to be in trouble with the league regularly for comments on referees before laving SA to work in Thailand:

“You must remember that when Ernst Middendorp left SA‚ he was always in the DC every day where he was saying the PSL is against him and all those things. He was always complaining about referees‚ he went to Thailand on a honeymoon and came back and now he is benefiting.”

Mosimane continues his favoured subject of 2019 after Sundowns “benefit” from a seemingly dubious penalty in a 3-1 win against Stellenbosch FC in December:

“If I benefited you can minus and stay at 2-1‚ it’s up to you. If we benefited why not? It’s about time. I even want an offside or penalty on Saturday [in the coming Telkom Knockout final against Maritzburg United]. I will lift the trophy gladly. It is the way it is at this point and I will take it.”

And almost relentlessly‚ the theme of benefiting continued after there were questions whether Judas Moseamedi’s late overruled offside goal for Maritzburg near the end of December’s TKO final should have stood‚ as Downs won 2-1:

“If we benefited‚ it is about time. In this PSL league‚ people benefit and I’m happy to go three more games [with benefits]. If it was not offside‚ I don’t care. I’m waiting to benefit also. Some people benefit in a series of five games in a row [a veiled reference to Chiefs]. So I want to [benefit] also and I’m not ashamed of that. I’m happy‚ I don’t care.”