The continent's best football brains clash

Pitso Mosimane has what Florent Ibenge wants and Ibenge has what Jingles would have loved to have in his previous life as a Bafana Bafana coach.

Ibenge (coach of AS Vita and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) is still in search of the Caf Champions League trophy that Mosimane won last year. Mosimane would have loved to do at Bafana what Ibenge has done with the DRC.

The absence of those things has pushed these two coaches to excel.

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They're flag-bearers of African excellence in an environment that finds it easy to pluck a European coach from obscurity and hand them big coaching assignments but finds it hard to give more than qualified local coaches half the chance.

Ibenge has done wonders with DRC since replacing Claude Le Roy. Under Ibenge, the Leopards won the 2016 African Nations Championship after finishing third in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Ibenge was one of three African coaches in that Afcon.

"The question is why there were only three. Is it because we are not trained well enough? Or is it a problem of racism? Insidious racism? Does it mean that black guys are good for playing but not good for management?

"That's almost the case for all jobs ... Is it because we are stupid or because nobody gives us a chance? These are real questions. The talent is there," Ibenge told Perform.

Mosimane said something similar during the long search for the Bafana coach, arguing that the African football federations prefer European coaches while an appointment of a local comes with lots of doubts.

Such challenges and their success on the continent have made Mosimane and Ibenge develop a strong friendship.

"One of the people I look up to, he is my friend, is Ibenge," Mosimane said. "He is my good friend but we fight properly (on the field).

"I often wonder how he does it, coaching the rivals of TP Mazembe and also coaching the national team. I did that here (as Bafana assistant and SuperSport United coach) and I was asked why am I playing players from SuperSport."

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Mosimane left Bafana without winning a continental title and taking his country to the Afcon. He made up for that by guiding Mamelodi Sundowns to Champions League glory last year. That glory came at the expense of AS Vita, who were kicked out for fielding a suspended player in the win over Mafunzo from Zanzibar in the preliminary round.

The Brazilians took Vita's place in the group stage and went all the way to win the coveted trophy.

That strained the relationship between these two clubs which should make their clash on Wednesday in Kinshasa a grudge match.

A day before that clash Platinum Stars take on Mbabane Swallows in Swaziland and SuperSport United will be in Gabon to face CF Mounana in the Caf Confederation Cup.

Vita refused to play a friendly with Sundowns to help them prepare to take on Mazembe in the Caf Super Cup. While the clubs have their issues, Mosimane and Ibenge's rivalry is built on mutual respect and admiration.

A win is crucial for both teams as they need to kick-start their group-stage campaign. Vita started with a 3-1 loss to Tunisian giants Esperance. The Brazilians were held to a goalless draw by Saint George of Ethiopia.

Sundowns are still searching for the swagger that pushed them to become African champions for the first time in the club's history.