SUNDOWNS PROVE THEMSELVES LOYAL
THE RESOUNDING rewards that have been shown by Mamelodi Sundowns to their loyal staff and playing personnel in recent weeks are slowly but gradually annihilating the stigma that “players and coaches who join the club are bound to fail”.
Being owned by mining mogul Patrice Motsepe has made it relatively easy for the Brazilians to break the bank and get any player they want, having made some headline-capturing deals locally and abroad in recent seasons.
Locally, Brian Baloyi, Fabian Mccarthy (from Kaizer Chiefs), Benson Mhlongo, Oupa Manyisa and Teko Modise (from Orlando Pirates) were just some of the household names that found it easy to trade the famous gold and black of Amakhosi or the black and white of the Buccaneers for the green and yellow of the Brazilians.
A fan-favourite
Abroad, though, the club has been a fan-favourite of South Americans, bringing to Chloorkop the likes of Leonardo Castro, Eduardo Ferreira, José Meza, Fabio da Costa, Jorge Acuna, Bryan Aldave, José Torrealba, Rafael Dudamel and Vicente Principiano.
Sure, there have been stories of success and failure from the lucrative deals. But as the old mantra goes “the bad has an appetite of overshadowing the good”, so one can’t really fault the club that they’ve been deemed as a “career-ending institution” in the past.
But enter Pitso Mosimane whose success story is well scripted during his seven-and-a-half year tenure at the club. The fashion with which “Jingles” has shown his gratitude to those who were beside him when he conquered Africa in 2016 and domestic football is quite remarkable
Granted, Sundowns were bound to hang on to Mosimane after recently slapping him with a new bumper four-year deal after winning nine trophies – four league titles, CAF Champions League, CAF Super Cup, two Telkom Knockout titles and one Nedbank Cup – during his stay at the club. But isn’t it amazing that the man who helped him ascend to those dizzy heights also got a new fouryear deal recently?
Yes, assistant coach Manqoba Mgqithi has also extended his contract with the Brazilians.
Those in the know will tell you that the Mngqithi is no ordinary mentor. Remember how he guided Golden Arrows to the MTN8 title after hammering Ajax Cape Town 6-0 in the final at Orlando Stadium in 2009?
But as Mosimane goes on another hunt for another African crown, he’ll be barking instructions to some of his favourite players.
Early this week, the club announced that duo Gaston Sirino and Thapelo Morena have extended their stay with the club with further five-year contracts.
Taking to his personal Twitter account to applaud the club president for the respective extensions, Mosimane said: “Thank you President, for your support, it was very important for the stability of the team. Looking forward to the 4 years with Papi and Sticky!”.
It did not stop there, with veteran goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene becoming the latest player to extend his contract with the club, signing a new three-year deal.
The 35-year-old has had a decorated career to date, especially having also been part of Mosimane’s success since joining the Brazilians in 2013, while also winning the coveted Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) crown with Zambia in 2012.
However, to prove their overall success as an institution – under
Mosimane’s leadership – the Brazilians have sold Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly and Percy Tau – for lucrative deals to the French Ligue 1 and English Premiership League respectively.
Second on the Premiership log standings as they go in search of their third successive league title, the club has made it clear that they’ll keep most of their players until the season is concluded, while they’ll “all be paid in full as if there was no coronavirus”.
In the bigger scheme of things, all the recent fortunes justifies Motsepe’s comments when he said “there’s quite a number of players that want to play for us”.
But really, who wouldn’t want to play for a winning team that takes care of their loyal workers?