Newly appointed MC Alger coach Rulani Mokwena will be chomping at the bit to face his former clubs Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League this season.
Mokwena has already departed for the Algerian capital, where he joined his new charges for off-season preparations, which will start in earnest tomorrow. Last season, Mokwena missed out on CAF interclub football competition with Morocco giants Wydad Athletic, with whom he parted ways at the end of the season.
Mokwena, who is one of the youngest and brightest coaching minds on the continent, has been tasked with the arduous responsibility of restoring the glory of one of Africa’s successful and competent clubs.
Not a lot of 37-year-olds have had the rare opportunity to coach at such a high level on the continent. Mokwena opened up to Sunday World before his departure, and mentioned that facing the Buccaneers and Sandawana will be one of his biggest assignments in the coming campaign.
“The club (Alger) wants to do well in the CAF Champions League and that is our highest priority. My ambition is to do well in this competition. There will be some fantastic clubs this year. Sundowns, after the Fifa Club World Cup, have really developed. It was a great tournament for them and they did exceptionally well. They were organised and a lot of credit must go to the technical staff,” said Mokwena.
“We saw Pirates in the Champions League last season, they were excellent. They have bought players cleverly, and they have a very strong squad and good coach in Abdeslam Ouaddou.
“Their coach has good knowledge of the continent and people who worked with him in Morocco say wonderful things about his tactics. So, to compete against my former teams will be very interesting.”
Mokwena explained further that there will be threats posed by Esperance and Pyramids FC who stunned the continent by lifting the holy grail in its first attempt. “Esperance will also improve because of their experience at the Club World Cup. They will be joined by Pyramids, who will be defending their trophy and it’s going to be a challenge.
Mokwena spent last season in Casablanca with Wydad, who had booked their spot at the recent Fifa Club World Cup in America, but were ousted a few weeks before the tournament and his dream was blown to smithereens.
“This appointment happened at the time I was planning to go on a sabbatical. I thought it was the right time to rest, reset, recharge, introspect, and to re-establish relationships, because there’s so much pressure when you are a coach.
Alger called, they expressed their vision, their targets, and they presented the project. I spoke with the president and we found each other.”
Mokwena said that after missing out twice on the FifaClub World Cup, the experience taught him a valuable life lesson.
“Of course, someone reminded me that I had an influence in changing the lives of some players that we recruited and signed, like Thembinkosi Lorch and Cassius Mailula, who under normal circumstances would not have played at the club world cup. He said I should be proud because I played an even bigger role than most coaches because I also had an influence in two clubs (Sundowns and Wydad) at the club world cup.
“But in a selfish kind of way, I would say I wish I was there, but the little contribution I made means more than being there. Instead of regret, I should be proud. I looked at it in a different way.
“It gave me good opportunity to assess the two teams that I had coached, they still looked the same,” he explained further.
