Rulani strums his Latin guitar

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is pleased with his South American quartet of Gaston Sirino (below), Marcelo Allende, Junior Mendieta and the latest arrival Matias Esquivel, who all starred in the 6-1 demolition of La Masia in a Nedbank Cup clash on Tuesday.

Uruguayan and fan-favourite, Sirino, was a hat-trick hero on the night while Argentine Esquivel, who combined well with his countryman Mendieta scored his first goal for Sundowns and provided an assist for Terence Mashego.

Lebohang Maboe also got on the scoresheet and had two assists, as the Brazilians ran riot at Dobsonville Stadium with Chilean Allende also in the thick of things.

“I call it the Spanish guitar but you know the guitar still has to play to the tune of the team,” Mokwena said about his Latin American contigent.

“There are no individuals within the team and they are part of Sundowns. They were all good and showed good attitude and mentality. It’s just a pity that we had to take Mendieta off at halftime because you could see that they were trying to provoke him a little bit.”

There was also a debut for new signing Zuko Mdunyelwa, who joined the Tshwane giants from Chippa United on a long-term deal to provide some much needed competition for first choice right back Khuliso Mudau.

“You have to be patient because it was the same as Sailor (Khuliso Mudau). When he arrived, there were questions as to when he would play at Sundowns,” Mokwena said.

“He (Mudau) was shaky at the beginning but look at where he is today, so Zuko has a lot of potential and that’s what we brought him here for because of his potential.”