Coach Mokwena calls on Sundowns to take the initiative

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has called on his troops to take responsibility and trust their own decisions during the crunch Champions League semifinal against Esperance of Tunisia on Friday. 

The Brazilians face the difficult task of overturning a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Tunis last weekend to book a place in their first final appearance since they won the tournament in 2016. 

Speaking at Loftus on Thursday, Mokwena asked his players to be decisive when dealing with situations on the field and not wait for corrections at half time because it might be too late. 

“It has been one of my criticisms lately in our debriefs where I told the players that sometimes they wait for me to help them solve problems,” he said, adding that he communicates a lot with captain Ronwen Williams and midfielder Marcelo Allende during matches. 

“Ronwen is probably one of the most important in that regard because I communicate a lot with him when he is on the pitch. When he gets the opportunity to sprint towards me and inform me of what’s happening, some of the things I don’t even see.

“Him and Marcelo Allende are probably the two that are an extension of the coach and they have such incredible tactical insight in relation to how we want to play and the schemes we want to adopt with or without possession.” 

Mokwena said he wants his players to take more responsibility. “Sometimes at half time it is a little too late and the one thing I keep saying to them is that these games are going to be played until the end of the season.”

Williams agreed with Mokwena and added they are aware of the importance of winning the game. 

“We draw inspiration from the African Football League (AFL) final where we lost away from home even though it was a bit different because we got the away goal. We will also draw inspiration from the Uefa Champions League between Real Madrid and Manchester City and Barcelona against PSG. 

“Just go out there and win the game ... the other important thing for us on Friday is not to concede and I don’t think we let in a lot of goals at home. In the AFL we had five out of six clean sheets. 

“Knowing our team, we do not concede at Loftus and that’s the most important thing. It gives us energy knowing that we don’t concede at home and we score goals in front of our home fans.”