Rulani Mokwena: ‘And this is what SA football forgets about me’

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has sent a reminder to the South African football fraternity following his side’s exit from the CAF Champions League.

Masandawana suffered a successive  Champions League semi-final exit after succumbing to a 1-0 (2-0 in aggregate) defeat against Esperance.

The Brazilians had a lion’s share of possession; however, they failed to get the ball behind the Esperance’s shot-stopper.

With just three shots on target in the game, the Tunisian giants managed to beat Ronwen Williams through Raed Bouchniba to wrap up the game. 

Speaking after the match, Mokwena was asked whether he still had enthusiasm to fight for the Champions League especially following the second consecutive failure since he took over as sole head coach.

He declared he wanted to win the competition for the Yellow Nation promising to add the second star to the club’s badge.

Mokwena then reminded SA that he’s still at 37, however, he has been around for some time and achieved a handful of trophies with the Brazilians during his time as an assistant coach, co-head coach and sole head coach.

RULANI MOKWENA SENDS A REMINDER TO SA FOOTBALL

“One of the things that South African football forgets, which sometimes South African football remembers only when it suits them, is that I’m only 37 years old,” said Mokwena.

“And that I’m only in my first year as a head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns. But I’ve been here as a co-coach now for three years, and if you count those three years as a co-head coach, we’ve won how many titles?

“We’ve won the Nedbank Cup, we’ve won the MTN8, we’ve won a continental trophy. And when I look at my tenure in my return to Sundowns, I, myself, feel very proud and privileged that I could contribute to this football club.”

Mokwena said he still wants to be at Sundowns to serve the club with diligence during the four-year contract he penned last year.

DESIRE TO CONTINUE SERVING THE CLUB

“But as I said, it’s part of the process, and I’m here to serve like many of us in the technical team. We do everything that we can to try to help the club,” he added.

“But at the end, for sure, there needs to be a leader who is in front in bad moments especially. And he can take the back seat in the good moments.

“But in bad moments, I’ve got to be in front, and I’ve to take the responsibility and shoulder the blame for the Champions League exit.”

RELATED STORY: Sundowns bow out in CAF Champions League semi-final stage