Tuesday night turned into a horror show for Pitso Mosimane as he watched his Saudi Pro League club Abha FC succumb to a humiliating defeat the Cristiano Ronaldo led Al Nassr.
For all the hope that Mosimane has given Abha since his arrival at the club at the beginning of the year, it all turned dismal against Al Nassr in the 8-0 massacre.
READ: Ex-Downs striker 'repays contract'
There was no measure of resilience with Ronaldo scoring a first half hat-trick, while Sadio Mane was on target in between those goals.
It ultimately stretched to eight goals by the time the final whistle blew at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City, leaving the red lights on in Mosimane’s relegation battle.
Mosimane – who has collected eight points from seven games to date – cut a dejected figure on the touchline as he watched the proceedings.
All the work that the former Bafana Bafana has put in improving the defence went down the drain in a single night with Abha having now conceded 68 goals from 26 games.
"I take full responsibility," said Mosimane in his post-match press conference as quoted by Saudi publications after the embarrassing defeat.
"We have no excuses, and we must not advance in this situation.
"We must accept the loss after committing many mistakes.
"We must learn from this harsh lesson.
"Our first mission now is to stay in the Saudi League," said Mosimane, who had to field questions about his selection choices, especially the omission of Saad Baqir.
READ | Perfect Pitso lands another huge accolade
This is the first ever relegation job that Mosimane has had to handle since his first head coaching job at SuperSport United back in 2001.
Abha have eight games remaining.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!
