The rivalry between former Premier Soccer League coaches Rulani Mokwena and Sead Ramović is set to be reignited in Algeria in the 2025-26 season.
This comes after Mokwena joined reigning Algerian Ligue 1 champions Mouludia Club Alger, or MC Alger, late on Sunday night.
Ramović is coach of CR Belouizdad, where former Cape Town City striker Khanyisa Mayo plies his trade. Mokwena and Ramović traded verbal blows when they coached Mamelodi Sundowns and TS Galaxy respectively last year.
“Rulani Mokwena, new coach for the dean of Algerian clubs,” Alger's statement read, also posting on Facebook: “Welcome to Mouloudia”.
At a press conferences last year, German-Bosnian coach Ramović mockingly called Mokwena “Mr Sunshine”. The former Wyada Casablanca tactician fired back by saying Ramović was seeking attention.
The root of the feud started when Galaxy beat Sundowns, prompting Mokwena to bemoan that his team lost because they were without several key players who were away on Bafana Bafana duty. Ramović believed Mokwena was discrediting his team by saying that.
The 38-year-old Mokwena joins Alger a month after leaving Wydad Athletic in Morocco, where he had to leave a few games before the end of the past season. Mokwena won 14 of the 35 games he was in charge of at financially-troubled Wydad with 14 draws and seven defeats, steering them to third place in the Botola, an improvement from sixth in 2023-24.
At Alger, the former Sundowns coach replaces veteran Tunisian coach Khaled Ben Yahia, who guided Le Doyen to their ninth Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 title last season.
It remains to be seen if Mokwena will coach with his own technical team in Algeria, having done that when he joined Wydad in July 2024. Allan Freese, Sinethemba Badela and Sean Louw formed part of his technical staff in Casablanca.
Freese, who was Mokwena's second assistant coach, and goalkeeper coach Louw are unattached, while Badela, who was his first assistant, is Chippa United's head coach.
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