Snl24 | ‘It’s a bitter-sweet moment’
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 25: Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena celebrates during the DStv Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City FC at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on May 25, 2024 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says it was a ‘bitter-sweet’ moment losing on the final day of the season as they lifted the DStv Premiership title.
It wasnât the conclusion the Tshwane giants wanted after going down to Cape Town City on the final day and were prevented an unbeaten end to the season too.
The winning strike came in the middle of the second half through Jaedin Rhodes, as the Tshwane giants celebrated their most iconic title win in the history of the club and South African football.
READ|Â Citizens end Sundowns’ unbeaten run
Remarkably, it was Masandawanaâs first defeat in the league since going down to SuperSport United in the Tshwane derby back in September 2022.
âOf course, we would have loved to do it a different way. But itâs bitter-sweet, you know I always say man plan but God decides and, in the end, if you want to do it a certain way, then God decides that this is not meant to be that way,â Mokwena told SuperSport TV.
âYou got to accept you know, and the first thing you got to do is to congratulate Cape Town City for winning the match. Congratulations to Eric (Tinkler) and the entire football club of Cape Town City. But itâs also not to forget that we are the champions, seven time in a row.
âThe most iconic trophy and championship for this football club, it will go down in history and thank you to the yellow nation for coming through to witness this. The support was incredible,â he continued.
Played in front of a big crowd, the coach lauded their support and believes everything is always done for them be it on the playing pitch or otherwise.
As the chance to go âinvincibleâ went pear-shaped, going a mammoth 29 games unbeaten is no mean feat either and Mokwena hails all concerned for this milestone.
âThey are so important, we do everything for them, we play for them, we suffer for them, we sacrifice and we happy that we delivered the most iconic trophy in the history of this club so as I said even in my pre-match.
âWe wouldâve loved to go undefeated but itâs never been done before and that shows how difficult it is and for us to even go 29 games its incredible and Iâm so proud of these players. We will go again next season and try again,â Mokwena said.
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