Interview
Rulani speaks on Hilal victory, tight-lipped on Sundowns tie
Photo: Rulani Mokwena
MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena has reacted to his team’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Group C leaders Al-Hilal Omdurman in the CAF Champions League on Friday.
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Moslem Anatouf broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, before Zinedine Ferhat doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, while Ahmed M’Bracek scored the consolation for the visitors in the 78th minute.
As a result, Mokwena’s men leapfrogged Mamelodi Sundowns into second spot, having picked up seven points in five matches.
The South African tactician admitted that securing a favourable result against the Sudanese giants was not a walk in the park, and lamented the persistent lack of cutting edge in front of goals.
“In Champions League you cannot control the opposition. We played a team that just beat Sundowns and they drew in Pretoria. It’s a team that has a lot of very good players – [Mohammed] Abdel-rahman, [Adama] Coulibaly, Jean-Claude [Girumugisha],” Mokwena said.
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«This is a team that’s scored more goals than anyone else in the group, so we knew that in some moments we are going to have to suffer and I’m very proud that we suffered and we suffered together as a team.
«I think if there is something I’m disappointed about is the number of chances we missed because in Champions League it’s details but I’m happy we’re creating the chances. At home against Sundowns we had some good chances, and in Lupopo we could have scored more than two and tonight we could have scored more than two.
With their Group C finale set to be against Sundowns in Pretoria, Mokwena was mum when pressed about the encounter that’s expected to be tense owing to the high-stakes.
“I will not say anything about the next match, there are people waiting for a comment, so I will say nothing about the next match. Allow me to enjoy this victory just for 24 hours. I go to sleep tonight, I don’t watch any games – I will watch the game we played tonight,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Miguel Cardoso’s men will square off against FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo in DR Congo on Sunday. Having amassed five points in four games, Sundowns will top the group with a victory over the stubborn Congolese outfit.
