‘Stay where trophies are’ – Pitso Mosimane tells Rulani Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has told assistant coach Rulani Mokwena to stay with Sundowns to win trophies.

The Brazilians clinched their tenth PSL title on Saturday, beating Black Leopards to finish ahead of Kaizer Chiefs, who had occupied the summit for over a year.

Pitso and Rulani reunited 

The last few matches of the campaign saw a reunion between Mosimane and Mokwena, who went their separate ways when the latter went to join Orlando Pirates as assistant coach – later taking over the reins on a caretaker basis before the arrival of Josef Zinnbauer.

After a brief spell as head coach at Chippa United, the 33-year-old returned to Chloorkop shortly before the PSL restart.

While giving his thanks to players and technical staff, Mosimane referred to Mokwena as his “angel”.

“I want to thank my entire technical team,” he said. “I said to Rhulani he is an angel, he has got a lot of luck. And I said to him please don’t miss many trophies again, stay where the trophies are.”I want to thank the entire technical team from the analysts to scouts to everybody who supported me during a difficult time.”

Mokwena first arrived at Sundowns in 2014, starting off with the club’s academy, and was part of the coaching staff when the Tshwane giants won the Caf Champions League in 2016.

He switched to the Buccaneers the following year, where he served as assistant to Milutin Sredojevic, until the Serb’s unexpected departure in August 2019.

Having also won the Telkom Knockout in December, Sundowns now have a chance to compete a domestic treble when they face Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday afternoon. Kick off is at 14:00.