Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has reflected on the year 2022 that saw him being named sole head coach at the club.
He says the year 2022 was successful but it is bittersweet because the country and the society at large are going through a lot.
Though Mokwena did not divulge issues the country is going through this year, one of them is the outage of electricity that the government can’t seem to have an answer to remedy the situation.
Sundowns won their league 12th league title last season with four games to go, the earliest any side in the league. The Tshwane giants beat their own record of the 2020/ 21 season where they won the title with three games to spare.
They won the Nedbank Cup when they beat Marumo Gallants and recently they were crowned champions of Carling Black Label Cup when they crushed Orlando Pirates 4-0 last month, Mokwena’s former club.
“With Christmas comes the responsibility to review because we are coming closer to the end of the year,” Mokwena said.
“To review the year in appreciation of the performances, the results, it has been a difficult year for everybody in a sense that it has brought upon a lot of challenges.
“Both – not just from a football perspective, but also from a societal perspective. We are a country that is dealing with quite a bit and this year we had to deal with quite a bit.
“But we have come through it relatively well with grace of God of course and appreciating that we were able to celebrate a couple of trophies this year.
“We celebrated the Nedbank Cup, we celebrated winning the league title and we celebrated winning the Carling Black Label Cup.
“We are in a space where we can give ourselves incredible plaudits for a very good year.”
There was also change in the dugout from Sundowns, with Mokwena given a solo charge as the club’s head coach, with the Tshwane giants revealing they were not happy with the results.
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This after Sundowns were crushed 3-0 by Pirates in the MTN8 second leg semi final. However, Mokwena, in two official matches in charge, has won all, scoring eight goals without a reply.
Sundowns, who have won the league for the unprecedented five times on the trot, are sitting on top of the DStv Premiership table with 28 points after 12 matches, five points clear of Richards Bay.
Post the FIFA World Cup break, Sundowns will resume the league charge against Pirates on 30 December at Loftus Stadium (15:30), the first time the PSL will have matches during the festive season.
“From a football perspective, we can celebrate the year as being a good year to the club at large and to our fans,” he added.
“But because we are going into the festive season, we also have to understand that it has its own challenges.
“For me it is to say Merry Christmas but at the same time request that people don’t drink and drive.”
