Sundowns’ Mokwena excited to see hero Guardiola at Club World Cup

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says he is thrilled by the prospect of coming face to face with Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola at the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup in the USA next year.

Mokwena is a self-confessed admirer of Guardiola, and the Sundowns mentor will join the Man City head coach at the expanded tournament, set to take place between June 15 and July 13 next year.

Fifa have made the Club World Cup a 32-team tournament, and Sundowns will join Wydad Casablanca, Al Ahly and Esperance as one of four African representatives.

“I am very excited and you know what excites me even more, is seeing Pep Guardiola,” said Mokwena, after he received the men’s Coach of the Year Award at the inaugural Cosafa Awards on Thursday.

The 37 year-old said he is always trying to learn from the best coaches on the planet.

‘Why not me?’

“My mind never sleeps,” added Mokwena.

“I am always trying to find solutions to help my players, to help the team be better, to understand and learn, especially from the best in the world.

“I was listening to Carlo Ancelotti the other day, he is going for a fifth Champions League title … but he has also had ups and downs … a couple of seasons ago he was announced as Everton manager, and not long after that he won the Champions League with Real Madrid.

“It shows coaching is not linear, you must keep fighting and learning. Ancelotti said in a press conference (recently) that they had taken clips of both Manchester City and Arsenal, and were learning from both Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. If Ancelotti, who has achieved everything, is still a student of the game, why not me?”