{"id":41987,"date":"2025-11-16T21:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=41987"},"modified":"2025-11-16T21:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:24:05","slug":"rulani-mokwena-coach-pitso-mosimane-opened-the-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/11\/16\/rulani-mokwena-coach-pitso-mosimane-opened-the-door\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach Pitso Mosimane opened the door"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The move of former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena to MC Alger this season marked a noticeable shift. <\/p>\n<p>South African coaches are increasingly being trusted in North Africa, something that was almost unheard of a few years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Mokwena himself worked his way through Chloorkop, moved to Wydad Casablanca in Morocco, and now leads one of Algeria\u2019s biggest clubs, while Fadlu Davids is in charge of Raja Casablanca.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rulani-mokwena-credits-his-former-mamelodi-sundowns-mentor-pitso-mosimane\">RULANI MOKWENA CREDITS HIS FORMER MAMELODI SUNDOWNS MENTOR PITSO MOSIMANE<\/h2>\n<p>According to Mokwena the acceptance didn\u2019t begin with his own move abroad. The foundations were laid earlier, long before he left Sundowns.<\/p>\n<p>Chatting with South African Football Journalists\u2019 Association (SAFJA), Mokwena believes Pitso Mosimane\u2019s success at Al Ahly was the catalyst.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCoach Pitso had a big influence on that,\u201d Mokwena said as quoted by iDiski Times. \u201cHis success with Al Ahly was probably the door opener\u2026 not only in terms of results in the Champions League, but also the way he worked and carried himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Mokwena, Mosimane\u2019s ability to navigate the pressure, expectations and intensity of Africa\u2019s most demanding club became a reference point for decision-makers in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt showed that South African coaches do have the capacity to manage in the North and to deal with the pressure from big clubs and supporters,\u201d the former Sundowns mentor continued.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"458\" alt=\"Pitso Mosimane responds to Rulani Mokwena's exit.\" class=\"wp-image-2135967\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Coach-Pitso-Mosimane-opened-the-door.jpg?resize=640%2C458&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Coach-Pitso-Mosimane-opened-the-door.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.thesouthafrican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1200x858-2024-07-08T113638.224-768x549.jpg.optimal.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thesouthafrican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1200x858-2024-07-08T113638.224-750x536.jpg.optimal.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.thesouthafrican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1200x858-2024-07-08T113638.224-120x86.jpg.optimal.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.thesouthafrican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1200x858-2024-07-08T113638.224-350x250.jpg.optimal.jpg 350w\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Pitso Mosimane mentors Rulani Mokwena at Mamelodi Sundowns. Image via X @MS_Sharpeville<br \/><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The respect is not only professional but personal. Mokwena, who served as Mosimane\u2019s assistant at Sundowns during their dominant spell, credits much of his development to that period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was fortunate to work with him for many years\u2026 to be honest, I owe a lot of who I am today to him,\u201d Mokwena added.<\/p>\n<p>Mosimane remains the only coach in CAF Champions League history to win the title three times: in 2016 with Sundowns, and twice with Ahly in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile in Algeria, Mokwena\u2019s MC Alger are enjoying a fine start in the Algerian Ligue 1, with 11 games unbeaten and are top with two points and three games in hand. Alger are in Group C of the CAFCL alongside Sundowns, Al Hilal and Saint-Eloi Lupopo.<\/p>\n<p>Also read: Kaizer Chiefs legend questions Bafana coach on three players<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-do-you-expect-from-alger-in-ligue-1-and-the-champions-league\">WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM ALGER IN LIGUE 1 AND THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Coach #Pitso #Mosimane #opened #door<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The move of former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena to MC Alger this season marked a noticeable shift. South African&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41989,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987\/revisions\/41989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}