Mosimane vs Regragui - the duel between the model and the next generation

The final of the 2022 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League will not just be a clash between Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca, but it will also be a duel of coaches between the South African Pitso Mosimane and the Moroccan Walid Regragui.

Already winner of three CAF Champions Leagues titles with the Mamelodi Sundowns of Africa in 2016 and the last two with the Egyptian giants Al Ahly in 2020 and 2021, Mosimane has the opportunity to firmly establish himself in the history of African football.

If the South African coach secures victory on Monday for the fourth CAF Champions League trophy in his career, he will equal the record set in this competition by one of his predecessors on the bench of the Cairo Red Devils, Manuel José.

The Portuguese trainer won the flagship continental title in 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Mosimane, having won all the available trophies in his country (league title and FA Cup and CAF Champions League), it is only right to conclude that he has succeeded in his foray abroad in one of the most competitive leagues in Africa which is the Egyptian championship with the fans among the most demanding.

Revered in his country for winning titles with different clubs, Mosimane has put Al Ahly back on the top of the continent by winning six titles (two Champions Leagues, an Egyptian FA Cup in 2020, an Egyptian league title in 2020 and two CAF Supercups in 2020 and 2021) in just two years in charge of the Cairo-based giants.

If he did not experience the same triumphant trajectory with the Bafana-Bafana between 2010 and 2012, Mosimane, who's playing career allowed him to play in his country and in Greece, remains a role model for coaches Africans in particular for his opponent on Monday, Walid Regragui.

Better than the South African, Regragui had a great career as a professional footballer which led him to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations CAN 2004 which they lost 2-1 to hosts Tunisia.

Born in France in 1975, he played in clubs in his native country and in Spain mainly from 1998 to 2011 before moving to become a coach with his first position as assistant to the national coach of Morocco from 2012 to 2014.

Assistant to Rachid Taoussi, he left his post at the same time as the one who trusted him as coach of the Atlas Lions.

Regragui went to take care of clubs in Morocco (FUS Rabat) and Qatar (Al Duhail SC) and with these teams, the former Atlas Lions right-back won the league titles.

And it was in August 2021 after his Qatari bosses ended his job following his elimination from the Asian Champions League that he landed at Wydad Casablanca where he is on track to achieve a double.

With two rounds of matches before the end of Botola Pro 1, WAC leads the league table with 53 points, six points more than their closest rivals Raja who are on 49 points.

And in the CAF Champions League, he managed to sail his boat well and his dream of winning the title of African champion is on the way with the chance to lift the title on home soil.

It will not be an easy task against Ahly and also against Mosimane but the victory will only be more beautiful for one of the legendary clubs of the Moroccan economic capital.

And besides, Wydad Casablanca's last victory in the Champions League dates back to 2017 and it was against Al Ahly (1-1 in Cairo 1-0 in Casablanca).