Abha Club head coach Pitso Mosimane has reacted to arguably the biggest setback of his career as his side suffered relegation from the Saudi Pro League.
At the beginning of the year, the former Bafana Bafana mentor accepted the task of attempting to save the side from the dreaded drop to the Saudi First Division League, having signed a four-month contract.
READ | Revealed: Why Spurs wonder-kid didn't play against Chiefs
In the end, it was a valiant effort as Abha went down 2-1 to already relegated Al-Hazm on the final day of the season on Monday evening, in a match where they needed to win at all costs to secure their top-flight status.
Mosimane's charges found the opener two minutes into the second half, courtesy of an Ahmed Abdu Jaber goal, before the home side equalised 11 minutes later via the boot of Muhammed Badamosi. That set up a tense finish to the match, with Al-Hazm eventually netting the winner in the 80th minute.
To compound the visitors' woes, Abha missed a penalty kick towards the end of the encounter, minutes after receiving a red card.
It just was not to be.
"I am sad about the situation we are in, but this is football and everything must be accepted, and although we scored first, we were not able to win, and we got a penalty kick and missed it," said the Kagiso-born coach, speaking at the post-match press conference.
"I took a risk and came to a team at the bottom of the league, and I knew that it is a difficult task, but I had hope when we got out of the danger zone three times, and my contract with Abha expires today,"he added.
READ: Al Ahly 'impose penalty' on Tau
What happens next in the career of the celebrated coach is anyone's guess, but what's certain is that Mosimane won't be short of suitors should he decide against staying on at Abha.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!