Will the real Bongani Zungu please stand up, asks Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena

Since his high-profile return to Chloorkop in August last year, he is yet to set the scene alight and coach Rulani Mokwena is asking the real Bongani Zungu to stand up.

The 30-year-old former Bafana Bafana midfielder, who spent five years in Europe with Vitória Guimarães in Portugal, Amiens SC in France and Rangers in Scotland, has only made eight appearances in all competitions this season.

On Tuesday night, Zungu played for the duration of Sundowns’ 3-2 Nedbank Cup last 32 win over Richards Bay at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria in a midfield that included man-of-the-match Sipho Mbule, Lesedi Kapinga, Sphelele Mkhulise and Bradley Ralani.

Despite playing the third-placed team in the premiership, Mokwena had the confidence to rotate his line-up heavily ahead of Downs' Caf Champions League Group B opener against Sudan's Al-Hilal at the same venue on Saturday.  

Mokwena said Zungu needs to fight for a place in a midfield that is usually dominated by Themba Zwane, Marcelo Allende and Teboho Mokoena.

“Good player, but he has come into a very good squad,” Mokwena said after Tuesday night's game.

“That’s football and football has very little regard for name, reputation or money. If you put something in and invest, football will give back. Zungu has to understand that, he has to compete with everybody in the squad and that’s life and life is unfair.

“Those are the empowerment values we try to give to all our players — that everybody must fight for a place in the team, like you fight to achieve general things in life.

“Nothing in life is given to you on a silver platter, you fight to achieve things.

“You have to fight to achieve a starting place in this team, you have to fight to be in good physical condition and concentrate — those are the values life will demand from you.”

Mokwena said no player or club is entitled in football.

“I was listening to a podcast where Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was speaking about the difference between entitlement and empowerment. He was saying he is not coaching players to give them a sense of entitlement, but to give them a sense of empowerment.

“Everything he tries to teach them is not just based on football, but on life — that means even if he is not in and around them, the words need to resonate in their heads.

“It is the same for all our players. Our players have a lot of good qualities and everybody should be good enough to play — that’s why they are here. We have to empower them with the right life principles, where they don’t feel a sense of entitlement.

“This is the talk we had before the match. You look at Liverpool, for example. Maybe for the last three seasons it was the team that was on the cusp of glory with Champions League finals, one point to decide the [English] league championship with incredible numbers.

“They have very good players, but what happened to them this season? There is no sense of entitlement in football. Man City, incredible for the last four, five, or maybe eight seasons consistently where they broke records and reached Champions League finals.

“There was a feeling they could probably go on and maybe win the Champions League. But this season they are second to Arsenal [in the EPL] and even with an aggressive push, there is no sense of entitlement.

“Chelsea have signed all the most promising young players and they have spent a lot of money to bring good players into their squad, and what happens? They are still not able to get the results to close the gap on Arsenal.”