Ngcongca’s light burning bright
MOKWENA: DOWNS PLAYING TO HONOUR LATE STAR
Rulani Mokwena believes that the late Anele Ngcongca would not want his former Mamelodi Sundowns teammates to sulk and bury themselves in mourning following his tragic passing in a car crash earlier this week.
Instead, he would want them to pick themselves up as quickly as possible.
The Brazilians will be playing their first match post the death of Ngcongca when they entertain Stellenbosch FC this evening at Loftus Versfeld.
“We have to celebrate his life and what better way than to pick ourselves up and try to get a good result against Stellenbosch because that is what he would have wanted, he was a winner and I think that is what we have to focus on,” said Mokwena.
“It will take us a long time to recover from this tragedy, but having said that, we have got to really be in the moment, mourn, and feel the passing because of the void that he leaves behind, but at the same time we have got to celebrate his life and what he has achieved, not just in South Africa, but as a South African ambassador and representing us in that county.
“When you see players like Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois celebrating his life and a club like Genk going as far as retiring his jersey, that shows how important he was. People like Anele do not pass on, they live on in the hearts of the people they touched,” he added.
For today’s clash, Mokwena has mapped out how Steve Barker is likely to set-up his team, illuminating players like Leandro Mendieta as one of those to keep an eye on, as they look to extend their unbeaten run in the DStv Premiership.
Mendieta comes in and he gives a bit of fluidity and more creativity to their play. We could see in the last couple of games that he creates a lot of situations.
“They have got a team that is very resilient and defends very well. They use a very complex tactical formation and play a backthree that easily switches to a back-five.
“They also have two defensive midfielders that sit in front of that back five, so you have basically got seven players who are part of their defensive organisation,” Mokwena said.