Sundowns fans tell Mokwena – ‘We all love you and we’re with you’

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has brushed aside claims that the club’s fans are losing faith in him after yet another elimination in the semifinal of the Caf Champions League.

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Masandwana showed support to Mokwena after Monday night’s DStv Premiership 3-0 win over TS Galaxy at Loftus Versfeld. They chanted his name at full time and sang a special song for him.

When loosely translated, the lyrics ‘Rulani re go rata kaofela, re tsamaya le wena’ means ‘Rulani we all love you and we’re with you’. Mokwena insists he has the backing of the Yellow Nation even after the heartache of missing out on another Champions League final.

🗣️ “RHULANI! RE GO RATA KAOFELA! RE TSAMAYA LE WENA!!!!”

🥁 The Yellow Nation showing love to our head coach @coach_rulani 💛 pic.twitter.com/8YFXK2OAUq

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“Contrary to what people might try to create, I meet a lot of Sundowns supporters and I receive so much love. It is only proper that I thank them for this public show of appreciation,” Mokwena said.

“It really touches me … even in the Champions League, the stadium was full and there was lightning and rain but they stayed. It’s easy for them to stay at home because they are suffering from a bout of flu or to say that I supported the team in the rain and we lost. So psychologically there is a barrier that they needed to overcome and they did it.

“I want to thank them not just for supporting me but I always say that I’m probably the least important person at this club and to be shown the appreciation really humbles me. I want to thank them for supporting the players in good and bad moments because that is what true supporters do.

“I appreciate the fact that they become the beacon of light because in good moments they sing and in bad moments they stay behind and sing. This is what the players deserve and I want to thank the yellow nation for demonstrating what it means to really be a supporter. They are a special group and that’s why we fight so much for them and sacrifice so much.”

Mokwena added that the loss to Esperance in the Champions League fuelled their desire to get back to winning ways against Galaxy and edge closer to retaining the league championship.

‘Anger and disappointment fueled us’

“I will never stop studying how the greats do it in good or bad moments. How they succeed and how they bounce back from failure,” Mokwena concluded.

“Ours is to accept that we failed and we let ourselves down. We looked at the game again and thought how did we not win with this type of performance and that made us a bit angrier.

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“That anger and disappointment fuelled us to give us this performance and I have to give credit to the senior players because they managed the change room. Themba Zwane, Ronwen Williams, Denis Onyango and even coach Kennedy Mweene because he’s still very close to the players. We knew we had to show up regardless of how we feel … we also understand our responsibility.”