Mokwena – Pressure is always on the champions

Rulani Mokwena believes that Mamelodi Sundowns will always be under pressure to produce results, insisting that his side are expected to win every match that they play, and Friday evening’s clash with AmaZulu will be no different.

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Masandawana open their DStv Premiership title defence against Usuthu, who were hot on their heels for most of last season, which promises to be an interesting affair as Benni McCarthy would love to prove against Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi why he was named Coach of the Season at their expense.

“It is very important to put down a marker and speak in relation to what we think this season is going to be. Everybody anticipates a difficult season and the margins of making mistakes after being exposed has lessened and that’s the reality that we are faced with. The gap has narrowed a bit in terms of quality and you need a little bit more than just talent to win football matches and that is the mentality we go in with,” said Mokwena.

“We know we are the defending champions, the one right that you buy when winning a trophy and we go into every match with pressure and that is why not everybody has pressure, because not everyone is a champions and therefore we have to accept and do the best that we can do to try to live up to the expectations … that we set for ourselves,” he added.

The Downs mentor has studied Usuthu to the tee and has picked up some improvements in McCarhy’s camp even though they are still nursing the defeat in the MTN8 at the hands of Cape Town City this past weekend.

“They are much stronger than last season, they have worked hard to improve the quality in their set-up. They have a base that gives them their organisational structure that oversees the different schemes.

“They have got a goalkeeper who makes very few mistakes, up front they have Lehlohonolo Majoro and Bongi Ntuli in that space and they have the creativity of Sinethemba Sithebe and the speed of Augustine Mulenga,” said Mokwena.