Rulani Mokwena has revealed that he fought hard for Mamelodi Sundowns defender Malibongwe Khoza to stay at the club when others thought he wouldn’t make the cut.
The former Masandawana coach will face his former charges in the CAF Champions League on Friday, hosting last year’s runners-up with MC Alger in Algeria.
Ahead of the game, Mokwena discussed a host of topics on the African Five-a-side podcast with Maher Mezahi – and was asked which SA youngsters he feels could play in the UEFA Champions League.
Although Mokwena didn’t fully answer the question, he named Kutlwano Lethlaku and Khoza, before explaining how he stopped the club from letting go of Khoza before he even had his breathrough.
“There are a lot of good young players coming. I’ve got a lot of hope for Lethlaku, Malibongwe Khoza – he was a very interesting player,” he stated.
“I don’t think many people know there was a time where he was almost released from Sundowns and I fought. I don’t even think he knows this, but I fought a lot to keep him there.
“The DDC coach at the time was Themba [Badela] and I insisted with him, play him, and to play him a lot at centre-back, to get him to play the Rivaldo Coetzee role of inverting John Stones into the midfield. Because he was originally a defensive midfielder. There was a time when the club felt that he has no future in the club, and I’m very proud to see what he has achieved.
“But not a lot of people know there were a lot of discussions behind the scenes. Coach Manqoba knows, because coach Manqoba and I shared the same sentiments about the player. Fortunately, he backed me a lot on this when I said ‘the player has to stay, the player has to stay because he’s got a lot of potential’ and I’m glad to see that we were right and the player is showing immense potential.”