Al Hilal head coach Florent Ibenge has revealed that Pitso Mosimane persuaded him to continue coaching when he was considering taking a hiatus from football.
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Last season, the Congolese tactician led Moroccan side RS Berkane to CAF Confederation Cup and Moroccan Cup glory.
Lauded for his exploits with the north African side, he earned himself a move to Sudanese giants Al Hilal in August 2022, but none of it may have happened were it not for Mosimane.
The 61-year-old has admitted he was eager to take a break from management during his time at Congolese giants AS Vita due to undue pressure, but the South African convinced him to stay on in the dugout.
"I want to stop. I declared it, 'I want to stop', but he [Mosimane] called me and said, ‘You can't stop,'" Ibenge admitted to members of the media in a press conference attended by Soccer Laduma.
"He told me I can't stop. To go on because we are not enough. Pitso said 'You are a leader, you can’t stop’”.
"I continued because he called me. It's real. I wanted to stop because I was tired and I was a bit fed up.
"I was with [AS] Vita Club and I wanted to stop. I wanted to take a big rest and he told me ‘No, no, no, we must go on because there aren't enough of us and because you are like a leader so you have to continue.'"
Even after winning the #TotalEnergiesCAFCC and Moroccan Cup with @RSBfootball ???? during the 2021/22 campaign, Florent Ibenge decided to ditch Morocco for Sudan by joining @AlHilalSC_. Here he reveals why… #TotalEnergiesCAFCL | @Soccer_Laduma pic.twitter.com/sWyXOQqqR6
— Kamogelo Motecwane (@OfficialKLM_) February 11, 2023
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The pair have had a good relationship for years, and were part of the group of coaches who completed the first CAF Pro License course, which also included Morocco's Walid Regragui.
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