I am the testimony of hard work - Mokoena.

The big winner at the PSL end of the Season Awards, Teboho Mokoena of Mamelodi Sundowns, says he is the testimony of hard work, and touched on Manchester City midfielder, Rodri's influence on his game.

Mokoena was speaking after he walked away with the Dstv Premiership Footballer of the Season, and Midfielder of the Season Awards.

"Firstly I would like to thank everyone at the club, the supporters, the players, the technical team, the Motsepe family, my family and the coaches that voted for me," he told sundownsfc.co.za.

"I’m very happy to win the awards. I am the testimony of hard work. Hard work pays off and I am the definition of answered prayers."

Mokoena mentions coach Rulani Mokwena's encouragement as one of the catalysts in his superb 2022 23 season.

He says watching Rodri from Man City also helped his own game.

ALSO READ: Neo Maema reflects on the 2022/23 season: http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/maema-reflects-on-202223-season.html

"Coach Rulani has reminded me throughout the season that my job is to protect the defense so that we concede fewer goals as a team. I did a lot of work with the Coach. I started being interested in Rodri Hernandez and watching Manchester City as well as how he moves and defends," continued Tebza.

Tebza has vowed to continue doing the dirty work for the team, something he did with aplomb last season, despite doubts over his capacity to handle the demanding defensive midfield position at Sundowns.

"I will always do the dirty work for the team, score, and assist when needed, but I know there are players that will do that. My job is to protect the team and defend because I know that the players in front of me will score. My target for this season was to play regularly and perform well." 

Maema reflects on the 2022/23 season.

His performances for the trailblazing Mamelodi Sundowns team, especially under Rulani Mokwena's tutelage, have seen growing calls for Neo Maema to be included in the Bafana Bafana squad.

However, it seems like Bafana boss, Hugo Broos, has other ideas.

Reflecting on the season gone by, Maema says it was a difficult one, but feels it was much better than his first season at the club.

As a team, he feels Sundowns did very well.

Maema formed a deadly combination with Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane, and Marcelo Allende within the Sundowns midfield diamond this season.

Maema's importance in the Mamelodi Sundowns system, is reflected through his 39 appearances for the club last season, where he scored seven goals and came up with five assists.

"It was a very difficult season, I embraced all the good things that happened [and it was] a better season unlike my first season when I came here." Maema told sundownsfc.co.za.

"I just wanna say that as a team we did very well, sometimes we lost fewer games and broke a lot of records. I think we did very well, it’s a season where we embraced the good things that happened for us."

ALSO READ: Teboho Mokoena is wearing heavy boots that once belonged to giants: http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/teboho-mokoena-wearing-boots-that-once.html

He mentions adapting quicker in the CAFCL games among others, as one of his challenges last season.

But adapt he did, until his red card against Wydad AC in the CAFCL semi-final first leg in Morocco.

"The difficulties that I faced this season mostly I’d say it’s getting to adapt quicker into the games [like] the CAF Champions League, the cup games and how fast the games were coming up.

"I just want to get the hang of it and that’s what I would like to adapt quicker and make sure that in my position I play to the best of my abilities to make sure that team goes forward. Those are the types of things that I wanna change from this season and hopefully next season I will be better."

Mokwena thanks the Yellow Nation after clinching Coach of the Season.

Our coach, Rulani Mokwena, has thanked the Masandawana faithful after walking away with the DStv Premiership Coach of the Season Award.

Mokwena finished the season unbeaten in the league since taking over the reigns as Mamelodi Sundowns sole head coach, with 14 victories and six draws, wrapping up the league title with seven matches to spare, while breaking many records along the way.

The coach not only made his mark in the domestic league, but in the continent as well, where the team reached the semi-finals, and only bowed out on the away goal rule against defending champions, Wydad Athletic Club, without losing a game in 90 minutes.

Mokwena says the award is not his own individual accolade, but a reflection of the work being done by the club as a whole.

ALSO READ: Teboho Mokoena is wearing heavy boots that once belonged to giants: http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/teboho-mokoena-wearing-boots-that-once.html

"I’m so honored and extremely privileged to stand after receiving the Coach of the Season award on behalf of the yellow nation," Mokwena told sundownsfc.co.za.

"This award is only a reflection of the hard work and commitment of everybody that is associated with the club."

Next season promises to be another action packed season for the club, and Mokwena says the team will try to make it better.

"I want to thank you for your dedication, love, and support throughout this season, as well as for travelling with us on this journey. We go again next season, and we try to make it even better."

Teboho Mokoena, wearing the boots that once belonged to giants.

DStv Premiership Footballer of the Season, as well as Midfielder of the Season Award winner, Teboho Mokoena, is wearing heavy boots that once belonged to giants like Esrom Nyandoro, Hlompho Kekana, and more recently, Andile Jali.

What's with the long range cracker he banged in when we beat Al Ahly SC 5-2 during the CAF Champions League group stage? Was that not a vintage Nyandoro and Kekana strike?

I bet it was.

When it comes to the number six position, Mamelodi Sundowns has rarely put a foot wrong, and Mokoena seems to be continuing with the tradition of our former captains.

ALSO READ: We have been good, but it is time for us to be great: http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/weve-been-good-its-time-for-us-to-be.html

He still has a long way to go, but as he keeps growing, their boots will fit him perfectly.

Doubts were there when he stepped in to replace Jali in the starting line up.

Jali had won midfielder of the season in the 2021/22 season, and rarely put a foot wrong as our six, commanding the midfield like a war hardened general that he is.

When he was suddenly benched for Mokoena, it meant Tebza had a lot to do to win the hearts of The Yellow Nation, and prove that he was ready to take charge of our engine room.

And prove himself he did, putting in hard shifts in our midfield, with some sterling work on and off the ball.

Mokoena, although not much of an intimidating figure, has the bite, a strong engine to do the long yards, and the technique to find his teammates with short and medium range passes.

And he can score, which is a big plus, even though he hasn't found the back of the net as much as he is capable of doing.

ALSO READ: Downs Ladies drop back to second spot: http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/we-need-to-work-on-improving-our.html

Again, as he keeps on improving under coach Rulani Mokwena, an advocate of hard work and consistent improvement, we might see him growing in leaps and bounds, becoming the Rolls-Royce of deep-lying-midfielders in African football.

In a nutshell, our midfield is in good hands, as the Sundowns midfield has been ever since I can remember. 

We need to work on improving our finishing skills - Mogolola.

Our ladies team dropped back to second spot on the Hollywoodbets Super League table after playing to a 1-1 draw against Thunderbirds Ladies on Saturday at Sisa Dukashe Stadium.

The evergreen Melinda Kgadiete scored Banyana Ba Style's goal in the 58th minute.

Our defender, Regina Mogolola, says although the game was challenging, it was the finishing that let the team down, something she hopes they will improve on.

“The game was a challenging one as the opposition was determined to thwart our chances. Despite having our moments, we struggled to find the back of the net," said Mogolola as quoted by sundownsfc.co.za.

"We need to work on improving our finishing skills. We will take this as a valuable lesson and use it to enhance our performance in our next game. With renewed determination and focus, we are confident that we can overcome these obstacles and achieve better results in the upcoming games."

ALSO READ: We've been good, it's time for us to be great!

http://thesundownsspace.blogspot.com/2023/05/weve-been-good-its-time-for-us-to-be.html

Bambanani Mbane, says she was not at all impressed with the officiating, but says ladies will have to use their pain to improve in their next games.

"We noticed from the very beginning that some of the decisions appeared to be partial, which stirred exasperation within the team," said Mbane.

"Moreover, the goal they scored was seemingly offside, adding to our affliction. It was undeniably a complex and disappointing game for us. While we may have contested some calls, we understand that mistakes can happen in the heat of the game. It is essential for us to channel our affliction into productive efforts to improve our performance in the upcoming games."

In our next game, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies takes on Richmond Ladies at the Sol Plaatjie University on Saturday 03 June.

Kick-off will be at 15:00.

We've been good, it's time for us to be great!

Sixth DStv Premiership title in a row, won in emphatic fashion with seven matches to go, countless league records broken, and there is more... 

Just for good measure, added to that is a decent, unbeaten CAF Champions League run, which ended against the defending champions, Wydad AC on away goals rule. Painful experience, but it is what it is. Rules are rules, no matter how outdated they are. 

We were not bad when it comes individual awards as well, with our midfield general, Teboho Mokoena scooping both the PSL Midfielder of the Season, and Footballer of the Season Awards. 

Ronwen Williams was head and shoulders above the rest of the goalkeepers in the league, his award was well deserved. 

What can one say about Peter Shalulile, except that he did it again. 

Khuliso Mudau is nothing but class, a well earned Defender of the Season Award. 

The young Cassius Mailula gave us joy, and he was duly rewarded with his Young Footballer of the Season Award. 

And than there is our coach, the one and only Rulani Mokwena, Coach of the Season Award deserved? Look at his record, it screams a BIG YES!! 

All in all, it has been a good season, we played some wonderful football, and enjoyed some happy moments. 

Heart breaks were there too. 

Being knocked out of the MTN8 by eventual winners Orlando Pirates, was a bitter pill to swallow. 

Our loss to Stellenbosch FC in the Nedbank Cup semi-finals was disappointing. But knowing that we can't win them all, we took the defeats with a pinch of salt, and moved on. 

We have won everything there is to win in the local scene, and we are grateful to the players, the technical team, and the entire management. 

The journey has been good, but it can be great! 

We have bigger fish to fry, the biggest of them all being the CAF Champions League. 

We have proven ourselves to be more than capable of lifting the title for the second time. We have made Africa sit up and take notice with our cutting edge possession football. Some top coaches have called us the best team in Africa at the moment, and truly speaking, we are the best. 

Now all that is left is to cross that thin, but troublesome line between being good and being great. 

And to cross that line, we need to remember the lessons learned from the season that has just ended. 

One of them, a truly valuable lesson being, as Wydad coach, Sven Vandenbroeck said: 

"Football in Northern (African) countries, it’s the number one sport. Here, I think there are other sports that are a little bit bigger than football. And then you see, ‘Ah we’re 1-0 up, we have what we want’, so they (the supporters) go quiet. I think it’s a massive difference. It helped us gain confidence because the support was not intimidating to us. I think it’s culture maybe a little bit, but I can’t talk about it too much because our fans are great and they have to stay great. There will be 60 000 or 70 000 in Casablanca for the second leg in the final to support us."

This is one important lesson that as The Yellow Nation, we cannot afford to forget, to stay behind the team in full voice for the whole 90 minutes, whether we are winning or losing. 

We are the twelfth player, right? Let us play our rule till the fat lady sings. 

Moving on, perhaps, the technical team will have to zoom in on our squad and check if we really have enough big game players. 

I am talking about players who can stomach the pressure that comes with winning a tournament like the CAFCL, not the Nedbank Cup, not the MTN8 or the DStv Premiership, but the CAFCL. 

But that is a topic for another day. 

We are Mamelodi Sundowns, and this Sandawana is signing out for now, till next time!