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JOHANNESBURG. — Rhulani Mokwena, the man who replaced Norman Mapeza as coach at Chippa United only to last one game, has found a new job.
He has returned to his old club Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Brazilians yesterday officially announced the return of Mokwena to the club.
According to a statement released by the club, Mokwena will go back to his old position of being Pitso Mosimane’s second assistant alongside Manqoba Mngqithi.
He returns to the Tshwane giants after three years — he spent two-and-a-half seasons with Orlando Pirates and the last few months as head coach of Chippa United.
“Former Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach, Rhulani Mokwena, is expected to rejoin the Chloorkop side in the same capacity, having parted ways with the club back in 2017 to join arch rivals, Orlando Pirates,” Sundowns said in the statement.
The Chloorkop-based side revealed Mokwena will join the team in Rustenburg as soon as he receives the result of his Covid-19 test.
“Mokwena will travel to Rustenburg to join the Brazilians in camp as soon as he has received the result for his COVID-19 test. If everything goes according to plan, he will join the team by the end of this week.
“The experienced Mokwena spent more than three years with Sundowns before embarking on a journey to coach some of the most competitive sides in the PSL. “He also took the time to capacitate himself by travelling to Europe to study at the current Premier League champions, Liverpool,” continued the statement.
Club president Patrice Motsepe welcomed Mokwena with both hands, the club confirmed.
“The president of Mamelodi Sundowns, Dr Patrice Motsepe welcomed Mokwena back home to the Mamelodi Sundowns family as the club looks to reinforce the technical team as they continue to aspire to dominate in the Caf Champions League to earn the second star for the Club and beyond.
“Mokwena will add a new dimension to our already accomplished technical team and will make a valuable contribution to Sundowns.”
Mokwena worked hand-in-hand with both Mosimane and Mngqithi as Sundowns won the Caf Champions League trophy in 2016.
However, it was when Pirates appointed Micho Sredojevic as their head coach in 2017 that Mokwena felt he needed to grow as a coach and he joined the Sea Robbers as their assistant coach.
He was handed the coaching job on an interim basis soon after Sredojevic resigned at the start of the 2019/20 season. But things didn’t go according to plan for him as the team struggled for positive results despite playing beautiful football. The arrival of Josef Zinnbauer pushed Mokwena out of the club — and he spent three months focusing on ABC Motsepe League club Black Poison FC before Chippa United came knocking for his services. — Goal.com
Online Reporter