JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 20: Rhulani Mokwena (coach) of Mamelodi Sundowns during the Nedbank Cup, Last 32 match between NB La Masia and Mamelodi Sundowns at Dobsonville Stadium on February 20, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says he saw the personality he wanted to see from his team after a 6-1 demolition of NB La Masia in the Nedbank Cup.
Sirino scored a hat-trick, with other goals coming from Matias Esquivel, Terrence Mashego and Lebohang Maboe, as Sundowns progressed to the round of 16.
Mokwena suggested that he was happy to see the personality of the team and the response after a 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates over the weekend.
READ| Ruthless Downs hit Klate’s La Masia for six
“Let’s congratulate Mamelodi Sundowns for going through to the next round, much better performance for sure, so a little bit more of the personality we want to see,” Mokwena said on SuperSport TV.
“And the subs were good also, so very proud of the team, congratulations. Also commiserations to La Masia you know, I like teams that play, the coaching, the detail from Daine Klate’s team, so huge heads off to them for coaching a very good team and advocating for a very good style of play.
“Unfortunate that today they lost but they’ve got a very good team and they play good football, very good players, I’m sure they’ll have a very good season and I wish them all the best for the rest of the season,” he said.
The Brazilians gave players who are not regulars chances to play such as Maboe and Sirino, who both impressed and Mokwena applauded them for raising their hand at this stage of the season.
“Ja, we have to try, we’re going into that space, this time of the season you need everybody and when they put up their hands like this and perform well with a good attitude, good energy, the intensity is good, good mental focus, zero mistakes, it’s much better,” the 37-year-old tactician went on.
“We made one or two mistakes, okay it happens, I’m happy with the bravery in the second half especially, to try and get more on the ball, not to be too worried about the surface of the pitch and we tried.
“(Bongani) Zungu was good, stabilized things, (Thembinkosi) Lorch came on good assist, Lebo Maboe was strong contender for Man of the Match (award), Gaston was excellent, good hat-trick as we ask from him. Good overall performance and congratulations to the team and the entire football club,” he added.
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