Raja Athletic Club assistant coach Fadlu Davids has hailed Rulani Mokwena and his Mamelodi Sundowns side, saying teams in North Africa are “fearing” the PSL giants.
Mokwena and Sundowns can look back at a double in 2023/24 after winning the inaugural African Football League and the DStv Premiership – breaking the points record set by Pitso Mosimane’s Sundowns side in 2015/16.
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However, after losing two cup finals to Orlando Pirates, some have questioned whether winning two trophies is enough after the investment that’s been done into the squad.
Sundowns were also knocked out of the CAF Champions League by ES Tunis, who secured another North African final against record champions Al Ahly but ultimately lost.
With Sundowns, and the other Southern African teams, struggling to break the North African dominance in the CAF Interclub competitions, Davids has now admitted that the Brazilians are much-respected, even “feared to a degree” outside of South Africa.
“I’d like to congratulate coach Rulani Mokwena on a fantastic season,” he told Andile Ncube on Sports Night Amplified.
“They really stamped their authority on the African continent. All the teams here up in North Africa look up to Sundowns, respect Sundowns and fear Sundowns to a certain degree.
“The football they played this season [was] absolutely fantastic and huge congratulations to the entire Mamelodi Sundowns club.”
Davids, who recently completed his UEFA Pro Licence, also hailed his former club Orlando Pirates as well as Stellenbosch FC for their 2023/24 achievements.
“Orlando Pirates as well, for a fantastic double of cups – they’ve done extremely well,”
“And, of course, also Steve Barker – an unbelievable season with Stellenbosch, getting to Africa. Fantastic season.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on South Africa, and it’s been quite an interesting campaign in the PSL.”
Davids himself has been working alongside Josef Zinnbauer at Raja since the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign. The duo, who are also accompanied by former Pirates technical team member Darian Wilken, are still unbeaten in the Botola Pro League.
Last weekend, they moved one point ahead of Nasreddine Nabi’s AS FAR and could complete an ‘Invincibles’ league title on 14 June.
