Polokwane - Rhulani Mokwena may have celebrated Mamelodi Sundowns’ 2-0 Premiership victory over Marumo Gallants at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday with the excitement of a man who had just won the lottery, but the Brazilians coach says he is not gleefully anticipating lifting the league trophy.
Sundowns have long won a sixth successive league title and are now just working at rattling up further records as the season winds down, and they added two more to their collection in Limpopo.
Thapelo Morena scored the quickest league goal with his opening strike on 25 seconds, while goalkeeper Rownen Williams set a new mark of clean sheets in a season with his 18th as Sundowns edged closer to breaking their own record of 71 points in a campaign. Victory over Maritzburg United in their final match will see them get to 72 points to beat the mark they set in 2015-16.
Having also won the championship with a record seven matches to spare, you would expect Mokwena to be on cloud nine especially given that this is his first season as the sole coach. But the man who had a stuttering start to his coaching career at both Orlando Pirates and Chippa United said he was not getting carried away.
“Joy is over-rated,” Mokwena responded tersely to a question as to whether he was looking forward to being handed the league trophy on the final day of the season.
“We are just taking things step by step and next up is for us to get the players to recover and get the legs back. At the moment the most important thing is good rest and lots of water for the players.”
Mokwena was delighted for Williams though: “I am very proud of Ronza,” he said of the goalkeeper’s achievement. “But as I have always said, individual records are only a reflection of the contribution of everybody.
Morena Magic 💥
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 6, 2023
A relook at Thapelo Morena’s breakthrough with 25 secs into their i#DStvPrem encounter 👀
📺 Stream live: https://t.co/Tg69y0EeUL pic.twitter.com/jDsqG9486a
“It is a team performance; it’s a team record and I very proud of the entire team and everybody at the football club.”
Mokwena took a swipe at those who had criticised him during a uncharacteristically poor run of form that saw Sundowns go four matches without a win in domestic competitions last month.
“So I take it (the criticism), it is good. It gives, believe you me, it gives me lots of energy. The haters, they give me lots of energy. They are the ones who make me spend sleepless nights. And I work very, very hard and I welcome it.”
@Tshiliboy