It was a little before 1pm on a cold Thursday afternoon when Rulani Mokwena walked into the room packed with an expectant media corps at Mamelodi Sundowns’ headquarters in Chloorkop.
Resplendent in the club’s blue tracksuit, the young coach took his seat at the top table, his player Aubrey Modiba alongside him, and commanded attention the way only accomplished men do.
Mokwena was calm, exchanging glances and smiles with a few familiar faces.
He took a sip from his water bottle then sat back — clearly ready for whatever the newshounds were going to throw at him.
If he was feeling any pressure ahead of what could well be termed the defining match of his short and very successful coaching career, the man referred to in some quarters as the “South African Mourinho” was doing a good job of hiding it.
Instead, an uninformed observer would have thought Mokwena was addressing the media ahead of a routine domestic match that his team was guaranteed to win.
There was no sign of nerves.
There was nothing about his demeanour to suggest he was sweating about the prospect of leading the Brazilians into the continent’s ultimate club knockout football match — the CAF Champions League final.
This is a man who models himself on the game’s greatest coaches; a student of the game who spends sleepless nights analysing his team and the opposition in a bid to rule out any surprises during a match.
He is a huge fan of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and late in the press conference when they asked him about the Spanish master tactician’s humiliation of Real Madrid in the European Champions League semifinal, he simply responded “don’t get me started” — the glint in his eyes a sign he was in awe of what transpired at the Etihad Stadium midweek.
And as he anticipated Saturday’s semifinal, second leg clash against defending champions Wydad Athletic of Morocco at the Loftus Versfeld, Mokwena sounded like a man with a plan to deliver his own masterclass against an opponent Sundowns are yet to properly get the better of.
The tie is evenly poised after the goalless first leg in Casablanca last weekend, and the smart money is on the hosts to make their first final appearance since they were champions back in 2016.
Mokwena is aware of the expectations, especially from a support base so accustomed to their team winning, Sundowns having again won the domestic championship at a canter.
Suggestions that they will be further motivated by the desire to win the Champions League for the departed former club public relations officer Alex Shakoane were met with a typical Mokwena rebuttal.
“At this point of the season, we don’t need a lot of motivation. Who we are and the work we have done and the ambitions we harbour should be enough, but of course if we were to be short of motivation, uncle Alex will be the fuel and driving motivation towards that because he was a giant and a legend.”
Mokwena is, himself, about to become a Sundowns giant and legend, but unlike Shakoane, who earned that status through nearly five decades of dedication to the Brazilians, he can do it in just one season.
Put in sole charge of the club as coach at the beginning of the season, the man who comes from arguably South Africa’s foremost football family — the Sonos — remarkably won the league title in record time, with seven matches to spare.
He has now helped Sundowns reach the semifinal stage of the continent’s premier club knockout competition for the first time since 2019.
They go into the second leg with a fighting chance of reaching the final, and in Mokwena they have a coach with bags full of confidence and belief in his team’s ability to overcome the revered title-holders from Morocco.
“It’s only half time. We have the second half to play against the defending champions and we are looking forward to it. The team is ready. We have had a super, super season though it could be better.
“If you look at what we have done, our performance in the Champions League in Cairo, Algeria and Casablanca and you see what I see as an incredible group of players that does all it can to represent the club with integrity and give their best efforts.”
Though he praised the players, there can be no denying the big part he has played in Sundowns’ fantastic season.
Modiba spoke of how he has become a better player thanks to Mokwena’s guidance, support and motivation.
“They are my side projects. I invest a lot into my players,” Mokwena explained.
There have been those who felt Mokwena has essentially inherited a running juggernaut that was put together by Pitso Mosimane.
But the reality is that he has put his own signature on the team, and this much is evidenced by the fact that only one player in the current squad was part of the one that won the Champions League in 2016.
“Hopefully it is evident to everybody just how much the team has made progress.”
Victory over Wydad on Saturday and success in both legs of the final — most probably against Al Ahly — will leave no doubt that this Sundowns is Rulani Mokwena’s team.
There was no doubt in that packed room Thursday afternoon that Mokwena was the man in charge of the Brazilians all right.
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