Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has admitted that the amount of scrutiny that he goes through from everyone especially on social media is painful.
Mokwena, because the topic became too much for him to bear when he was talking to the media after they beat Richards Bay 1-0 at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday, decided to end his press conference early because he was overcome by emotions.
Despite his pristine record with Sundowns since he was appointed in October last year and yet having to suffer a league loss, Mokwena has more often than not divided opinions from opposition fans, who normally pelt him with criticism on social media.
It has led Mokwena to only focus on his team’s performances, with a flurry of congratulations in the post-match press conferences, because he feels whatever he says “is under scrutiny and sometimes interpreted differently”.
Mokwena led Sundowns to their fifth league win on the bounce over Bay, as they stretched their points tally to 15, eight points ahead of second-placed SuperSport United, who have two games in hand.
“I would rather not answer that because of anything I say because I always tell you guys that I have a different set of rules,” Mokwena said when asked about the amount of scrutiny that has followed him in coaching and also in general.
“Everything I say is interrogated. Everything I say is sometimes misconstrued and sometimes deliberately so because people want to paint a negative about me that does not exist.
“But I accept it because only God can judge me, only God can judge me and I try to do my best every single day.
“But I take reference from the book [bible] and I say if the greatest of all that walked on this planet, the greatest of all [Jesus], if he was scrutinised and misinterpreted and killed for truth and honesty and representing that, who am I?
“So I’d rather not answer that because God knows my heart and sometimes it is very painful because I’m human too. But I’ll soldier on because I’m very strong.”
Sundowns are unbeaten in 25 league matches under Mokwena and it is 29 matches overall since they last suffered a loss to SuperSport United in September 2022
Because of that incredible run – the best in their history – they won the DStv Premiership title last term with seven games to spare, the earliest the league was won in the PSL era.
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Asked about paving away for others to handle the pressure and the responsibility because of his success at the highest level, Mokwena took a long pause before he answered.
“I’ll talk about it in my book. I’ll talk about it in my book,” he said.
New signing Junior Mendieta completed the superb inter-passing move between himself and Lucas Ribeiro Costa, before composing himself to finish low in the 11th minute that was enough to decide the game that later became so tight.
