‘Wydad is the best team in Africa’-Rulani Mokwena
Following Wydad Casablanca’s goalless draw against RS Berkane in the Botola Pro on Friday night, Rulani Mokwena has declared that his side is the ‘best’ club in Africa.
Wydad played to a tightly contested 0-0 against log-leaders RS Berkane on matchday 23 of the Morrocan league. The draw against Berkane saw Wydad maintain their position in the second spot with 41 points. They won 11 league matches, drew eight and lost four times.
As the season is nearing its end, Wydad are a big 15 points behind Berkane with seven matches left. The Red Castle are chasing a top two finish in Morroco’s top flight to qualify for the CAF Champions League next season.
Wydad Casablanca have missed out on this season’s Champions League after finishing the previous campaign in position six on the log standings.
RULANI MOKWENA EXPECTS WYDAD CASABLANCA TO BE MORE STRONGER NEXT SEASON
After joining Wydad from Mamelodi Sundowns in July 2024, Rulani Mokwena has seemingly turned the corner at the club, and he has labelled his team as the ‘best’ in Africa.
“You know when you start a project…I always tell the players that history doesn’t have blank pages, history knows what was happening in the past,” Mokwena said.
“I was asked to come to this club, and I must tell you I think it’s the best club in Africa, and it’s a great privilege to be here. But if you see where Wydad finished last season, it was position six and we lost all our players, so I can tell you about these players because as a Sundowns coach, we played against this Wydad team.
“And I know the expectations and the level of Wydad is to win every game, win Botola Pro, win Throne Cup and [CAF] Champions League.
“I know the expectations of this big club, but when you have a patient in ICU, when the patient resuscitates and walks out of the hospital, he doesn’t go to work the next day.
“There’s a process for rehabilitation and you have to go step by step. Where we are, I think the board knows because we share the feelings, and the players know because to start a team with 26 new players, a new technical team, a new board and to be second ahead of our rivals who won Botola last season is big.
“There’s so many teams that had the same team for three to four years. Berkane had the same coach last year, and they have the same players.
“And if you put it into context, last season, after 30 games, Wydad made 44 points, and this season, we already have 41 points. That means we are close to having a better season, the number of wins, number of goals and already we scored more goals than last season, so my expectation is that this team will be stronger next season.”
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