Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena often says “football belongs to the players” and for the benefit of his team, he is in Qatar for the Fifa 2022 World Cup to learn more about the game.
Speaking from Qatar on Friday, where he’s joined by members of Sundowns’ technical team Steve Komphela, Manqoba Mngqithi and goalkeeper coach Wendell Robinson, Mokwena confirmed the plan was to watch 17 games by the end of the tournament.
It’s early days but Mokwena was happy to share a bit of insight into what the technical team has seen so far, especially in relation to elements of the game that resonate with the Sundowns way of playing.
“You could see with Serbia vs Brazil (on Thursday), I think at any moment Brazil can create a chance from absolutely anything.”
This is how Mokwena sees his Sundowns side. Since taking over as head coach in October, Sundowns have played their opponents off the pitch, if you recall how they dismantled Maritzburg United (5-0) and Royal AM (3-0) in the League. It was more of the same in the Carling Black Label Cup, beating AmaZulu 3-0 and Orlando Pirates 4-0. That’s 15 goals in four games, without conceding.
“Of course, you can’t compare player for player, as much as we believe we have some of the best players and some of the best players on the African continent,” he said.
But there are elements of the game the Sundowns technical team has noticed from the likes of France, Germany, Spain and Brazil, which could be applied to the Sundowns team to become even more effective.
“I think there’s a lot more technical consistency with players here in Qatar. When I say technical consistency, I mean doing the simple things and doing the basics right.”
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