Mokwena heaps praise on his players for Shalulile penalty decision

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena hailed his squad as an “incredible group” for handing a first-half penalty to battling striker Peter Shalulile as the Brazilians beat TP Mazembe 1-0 on Saturday to end top of the Caf Champions League’s group A.

Shalulile stepped up to score the 38th-minute winner, ending a barren spell that went back to Sundowns’ 3-0 Premier Soccer League (PSL) win over Cape Town Spurs on December 13.

The striker failed to score for Namibia at the recent Africa Cup of Nations.

It says something that Shalulile’s 10 goals in 22 games in all competitions for Downs this campaign is seen as a below-par return.

He has scored three goals in the Champions League, two in the MTN8 and one in the inaugural African Football League final against Wydad Athletic, helping Downs lift the trophy.

It is his lack of goals in the PSL — where Shalulile was top scorer in 2019-20 for Highlands Park and Sundowns in 2021-22 and 2022-23 (with Khanyisa Mayo of Cape Town City) — that has attracted attention. The goal ace has just four goals in 11 games in the league this campaign.

Mokwena was asked if he had strategised to give Shalulile the penalty against Mazembe.

“It was not my decision,” the coach said. “I say this all the time: to be a top footballer you’ve got to be an incredible human being. And you’ve got a captain like ‘Mshishi’ [Themba Zwane], who is a good person and he leads.

“And I saw the decision; I didn’t even watch the penalty because I saw when they gave the ball to Peter and said, ‘What a team, what a group of human beings; incredible.’

“When you have a group like that who say, ‘We understand how important you are and your confidence is and how much you’ve served the team and helped us to win,’ and they hand over the penalty, that demonstrates an incredible amount of brotherhood and unity in the team.”

Mokwena has praised Sundowns for their resilience in the group campaign.

After a 3-0 home win against FC Nouadhibou of Mauritania, Downs lost 1-0 against Mazembe in Democratic Republic of Congo then were held 0-0 at home by Egypt's Pyramids to leave their chances of progression up in the air. Sundowns bounced back with a 1-0 win against Pyramids in Cairo and 2-0 victory away to Nouadhibou.

Downs — who lead the PSL by 11 points from second-place Cape Town City but with two games in hand — meet TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday (7.30pm).