The tactician believes there was more to be achieved with the South African outfit but it didn’t work as planned.
Wydad Athletic Club coach Rulani Mokwena has not healed from the Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns exit.
The 37-year-old had served Masandawana as the sole head coach from the 2022/23 campaign to the most recent one. During his spell, he won two PSL titles and the inaugural African Football League.
In his last year with the Brazilians, the vocal tactician helped his team collect 73 points, the most ever achieved by any club in a single campaign in Mzansi.
‘Exit wasn't a surprise… We could have done a lot more'
By virtue of reaching the 2023/24 Caf Champions League semi-final, Sundowns qualified for the expanded 2025 Fifa Club World Cup that will be held in the United States.
Mokwena is convinced he could have achieved a lot at Downs, “To me it wasn’t a surprise to be honest with you,” he told Sports Boom.
“There were a lot of people close to me who can tell you that even though I feel like it was a bit premature and that we could have gone on to do a lot more, but as a person there’s certain things that you can feel.”
Why did Mokwena choose Wydad AC?
The tactician had reportedly attracted a few top clubs after parting ways with Masandawana, but he opted to take the Wydad deal despite them missing out on Caf competitions after finishing sixth in the Botola Pro League.
“The only thing that I can actually say that made me choose Wydad over quite a lot of different options was their intensity, their commitment, their resolve to pull me towards the club,” Mokwena explained.
“When people show so much confidence and belief in you, I think in retrospect I made the right choice. I am enjoying myself and I look forward to helping this club try to get back to being a dominant force in the continent like it has been in the past.”
