Kekana and Vilakazi rally Sundowns for Mokwena reunion

Mamelodi Sundowns legends Hlompho Kekana and Sibusiso Vilakazi have weighed in on the club’s upcoming CAF Champions League showdown against Algerian champions MC Alger, now led by former Brazilians head coach Rulani Mokwena.

Mutual familiarity

Sundowns travel to the Ali La Pointe Stadium on Friday night for a contest steeped in mutual familiarity, with Mokwena preparing to face many of the players he once guided. Mokwena’s time at Chloorkop, where he spent several years and achieved significant success locally and on the continent, adds further intrigue.

ALSO READ: Sundowns’ Modiba relishes Mokwena reunion but targets win

The 38-year-old was part of Pitso Mosimane’s technical staff during the club’s triumphant 2016 Champions League campaign, a period in which Kekana captained the side.

“He [Mokwena] spent seven years here and that’s a long time and I’m sure he knows what’s coming before he even looks at videos of the previous match,” Kekana said on Sundowns’ Pitchside podcast.

“It needs players to be sober minded in their approach knowing that you are playing against someone that knows you so much that you can’t hide your emotions and expressions from. As a former player, I would easily say that let’s go play the 90 minutes.

“But as a fan now, we’re going to win against this guy because we know him and the team that he’s coaching, I don’t think they are on our level. I know how it is to play this match, you need to be sober, and you have to make sure that you play within the principles of the team and you can’t unfortunately be naive.”

Kekana was joined by his longtime teammate Vilakazi, who also offered his perspective on facing a Mokwena-coached side eager to recover from a shock 2-1 defeat to Al-Hilal in their last match. The 2014 PSL Footballer of the Season urged Miguel Cardoso’s squad to build on their impressive 3-1 victory over Saint-Éloi Lupopo at Loftus Versfeld.

Sundowns’ Kekana – ‘We’re also obsessed’

“We have given ourselves a good start and you’d want to continue from that and I think it’s a matter of saying it’s just another game that needs the same approach that we had in the second half [against Lupopo] where there was ambition and there needs to be continuity,” he noted.

ALSO READ: Motaung Jnr on Chiefs’ Bafana players – ‘It sounds great but …’

“Having to come against a coach like Rulani, we know how obsessed he is with the game and we’re also obsessed. As Hlompho said, we need to understand the principles within the group, what we want to achieve, go there to display the same professionalism, discipline and hunger and that’s what will set us apart from them.”