An Important Victory Against a Team That Gave Us a Lot of Problems Last Season – Coach Rulani Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns lead the DStv Premiership after six matchdays with 16 points from 18 possible with no goals conceded in their league encounters thus far.

The most appropriate praise for Masandawana as they went past Soweto rivals Swallows FC on Sunday evening is their notable dominance on the field. Coach Rulani Mokwena however, outlined that The Brazilians could have done better in the game, especially in the first half of their encounter.

“Even though there were some very good individual performances in the first half, we still felt that as a team we just looked to solve a lot of the problems through skills and the technical superiority that we possess on the pitch and that we lacked a little bit of intensity and good focus.”

Coach Rulani continued and applauded his troops for a turnaround of performance as the game progressed: “The second half was a lot better, it was more intensive, better aggression in the duels and a bit more competitiveness with the spirit of the team and a lot more dominance. Of course Swallows had some very good players on the pitch, they had their moments but in those moments we had to be strong as a team and that’s what we did. Not the best of performances today [there are] still a lot more unforced errors, but we did enough to win the match. An important victory against a team that gave us a lot of problems last season, we move into the next FIFA break and after that we’ve got the CAF Champions league.”

With clubs heading into the international break, Bafana Ba Style is amongst those who will be active in preparing for continental football in the CAF Champions League preliminary round. According to coach Rulani, the battles that lie ahead for the Yellow Nation can be conquered with their hard work and determination that has carried them in domestic battles.

“The challenge we have right now is to make sure that we continue with the process. There are absolutely no shortcuts towards where we want to go, we are extremely ambitious as a football club, we have very high expectations and goals that have been set for us, but at the same time we work extremely hard in order for us to walk into games with the perception or feeling that we are entitled to win. [For example], even today the mentality was correct, particularly also in the second half we were extremely intensive, we worked extremely hard in and out of possession. We created a lot of situations by being tenacious and extremely committed to the cause, this is what we will continue to do, Champions League or No Champions League, league game or no league game, friendly game or no friendly game.” said coach Rulani.

The Brazilians coach also shared the desire to have football fans in the stadium and to follow in the footsteps of the European countries that have opened their doors to football enthusiasts. He said, “ All of us want to get our fans back within the stadiums but the most important thing is to find the safest situation for everybody. We are still in the middle of a pandemic, we haven’t ridden that wave out and like every other country that enjoys the game, like when you watch the Champions League and football at any other level you get the sense that the supporters have missed the game and because they’ve missed the game their attendance has increased drastically and the energy that they provide for their teams in supporting and creating an ambiance in every single game it’s something that we marvel. It’s something that you are really hoping for, that as soon as it’s safe for everybody to come to the stadiums, hopefully we can have that condition, as long as it’s safe and we find the right sort of safety protocol and everybody is allowed to come in and the conditions allow for a safe environment, I think the people that are in charge of that will make the right decisions, we are just patiently waiting for them to guide us.”