Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says that the back-to-back Coach of the Month accolades he has won are a result of the magnificent team work displayed by his players. He says that his players make him love his job more.
Mokwena claimed the February/March DStv Premiership Coach of the Month award after guiding the Brazilians through the month unbeaten.
On Saturday, Sundowns will face Cotton Sport of Cameroon in the CAF Champions League group stages. Sundowns are already through to the knockout stages of the tournament after topping their group.
But the up-and-coming coach won’t take the credit all alone: “I have to thank the football club first for the opportunity. I say with humility that individual accolades in a game of football only reflect the means and contributions of everybody in the team,” said Mokwena.
“The coaches do not score the goals, or they do not defend goals. No coach has ever created a goal.
“I receive the award on behalf of the players and I dedicate this to them – maybe we must have the ‘Team of the Month’ award instead of the ‘Coach of the Month’ award because I don’t play, I don’t score.
“My deepest sense of appreciation goes to this fantastic group that I am privileged to lead,” he added.
“We have had a good break and we took liberty of the break to re-energise the squad. We had a couple of players that needed a bit more work than others – they needed different programmes.
“Other players needed time off because of the number of matches that we have played – it has been a good break and a lot of work has been done since we came back and now we are concentrating on the match against a very good Cotton Sport side.
“It’s important to finish number one on the group it has connotation we want to complete group stage with same excellence.
“Winning is a habit, it is good to go to knockout with the feeling of winning and that’s the mentality we want to take to the next round,” Mokwena added.
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