Pitso: Football in UAE is a bit different

Al Wahda head coach Pitso Mosimane has opened on life in United Arab Emirates and a characteristic start to the season before finding his feet.

The three-time CAF Champions League winner returned to top-flight football after a season with lower division side Al Ahli Saudi in Saudi Arabia, where he led the side to the the top flight.

READ | WATCH: Teko on Bafana - 'I feel some players have been overlooked'

However, on arrival in UAE, the former Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns coach got off to a disappointing start in the league, the first for his professional career.

"Football in UAE? It’s a bit different from where I was, so the quality of the foreign players that now expectations are high, we are suppose to win the league, the team finished third last season," Mosimane told journalists at Lofentse Girls High School in Soweto.

"We didn’t start on a good note, we lost the first league game and then you start wondering, what is happening here? I’ve never lost my first [league] match with any team, so that was a surprise to me, but it’s part of it."

Mosimane got back to winning ways in the next match with a 2-1 win over rivals Al Jazira before a delivering a 3-0 hammering of Emirates in the UAE League Cup.

"There’s no better way of bouncing back than to win a derby with one of the biggest teams in the UAE. I think you know Al Jazira, a big club [with] big names, big coach in (former Dutch international) Frank de Boer. There's nothing bigger than that," added Mosimane.

"They’ve got top quality foreign players. We won that, and we played the third game against Emirates. 

"You will always find big names in that space. You will find Iniesta, he still has the touches, okay not young, but the quality remains, hey.

"We can talk