Rulani to face former Sundowns coach in Africa

Rulani Mokwena has taken Mamelodi Sundowns into the CAF Champions League quarter-finals again. A former Kabo Yellow coach will be standing in his way.

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: RULANI MOKWENA’S MAMELODI SUNDOWNS TO FACE YOUNG AFRICANS

The group stages came and went. Without surprise, the DStv Premiership champions finished as the best team on the continent. Rulani’s Sundowns won the most games; four out of six group games, to finish with 13 points.

The second-best teams were Angola’s Petro de Luanda and Egyptian Kings Al Ahly, with 12 points each. What about Kabo Yellow’s big rivals, Wydad Casablanca, you ask? Well, they’ve dramatically missed out on the quarter-finals. Tanzania’s Simba SC, who are coached by the 2023 CAF Confederation Cup champion Abdelhak Benchikha, pipped Wydad on goal difference.

Anyways, back to Rulani’s Sundowns. The current African Football League (AFL) champions have been drawn against Young Africans. This means a meeting with former Kabo Yellow coach Miguel Gamondi.

The 57-year-old from Argentina was in Tshwane from 2005 to 2007. Gamondi lifted the DStv Premiership title as co-coach alongside Neil Tovey in 2006/7. His Young Africans team currently leads the Tanzania Premier League with five points after 18 games.

Miguel Gamondi in his first season at Young Africans after replacing Nasreddine Nabi. Image: @RealTshemedi.

Gamondi will face Rulani’s Sundowns after 10 CAFCL games, including six wins, two draws and two defeats.

MOKWENA REACTS

”My thoughts on the Champions League draw, I’m not so sure yet,” Mokwena said as quoted by SABC Sport.

“Of course, I watched the draw, but I can’t tell you my immediate thoughts – because I have got to watch the opponent closely.

Rulani added that he has followed the competition as Sundowns coach but not yet as an analyst.

”I have watched all the opponents, all the games in the Champions League. But I’ve watched a coach, not as an analyst, and now I have to switch. Fortunately, I have a FIFA break coming up where my focus will just be on Yanga; I will go as far back as I possibly can.

”They’ve got a good coach in Miguel Gamondi, he was at Sundowns, a very organised team with a very good structure,” Rulani added.

“So, let’s see before I jump to conclusions because now I have got to focus on the next game against Maritzburg, which is a tough one,” the Soweto-born coach concluded.

Rulani’s Sundowns host Maritzburg United in the Nedbank Cup last 16 at Loftus Versveld on Sunday at 18:00.