Sundowns’ Mokwena enjoying calm before the Ahly storm

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena described the scenery in Egypt like a painter with his brush and canvas, giving a detailed picture of the atmosphere in Cairo since Masandawana arrived and had their maiden training session on Wednesday night.

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Egypt is observing Ramadan, a period of prayer for Muslims across the globe, and this, Mokwena says, makes it an opportune time for his Sundowns side to take on Al-Ahly in the quarterfinal, first leg of the Caf Champions League on Saturday.

“It is good to come to Cairo in a different climate, in the sense that the country is going through Ramadan and there is not as much traffic during the day and it gives us more focus to understand that we are here on a national assignment,” said Mokwena.

“At this point in time is not as noisy as you would expect Cairo to be and this allows us to have some mental stability and focus … the mental state of our team looks energised and they know what we are here for and the responsibility that we have in every game,” said Mokwena.

“The players know that they have to be tactically well-drilled and at the same time, the performances must also reflect the culture that we have at Sundowns and the driving factor of that is a relentless work ethic. You cannot do that if you don’t have a lot of mental stability and some balance between anxiety and fear and motivation,” he added.

He couldn’t help but marvel at the work that Pitso Mosimane has done with the defending champions. Even though the Red Devils are not enjoying the best run of form, Mokwena is well-aware that Sundowns will be confronted by a side that knows every detail of Masandawana’s game.

“The team is well-coached, we know coach Pitso and we know the amount of work that he puts in behind the scenes and they have a clear identity, they look to start from the back and they use their centre backs very well. They have balance on the right and on the left,” the Sundowns mentor added.