Michaelson Ntokozo Gumede

By Ntokozo Gumede

Journalist


Mweene: Pressure is on current Sundowns generation

"The mandate is to also make it difficult for other players who want to come into the club," says Mweene.


Mamelodi Sundowns landed in Cameroon on Thursday where they will confront Cotonsport in the Caf Champions League group match on Friday, in the hope to get maximum points before they travel to Cairo to face rivals and tough opponents, Al-Ahly, next week.

ALSO READ: Maduka gives cryptic answer on Jele’s playing prospects at Royal AM

Although a significant portion of the squad traveled to the Central West African country with head coach Rulani Mokwena, Kennedy Mweene and other players remained behind. It seems that Mweene, the veteran goalkeeper, is ready for life after professional football.

Mweene was given the responsibility to sit on the technical bench as a goalkeeper coach in the absence of Wendell Robinson in Sundowns’ last two games.

“I was asked to come in and help and there was nothing really hectic to do because I was working with familiar faces and they knew what to do, so it was business as usual. I have always wanted to be a goalkeeper coach.

“Not only in South Africa but back home because we are struggling with goalkeepers and most former goalkeepers try to be head coaches or assistant coaches when they retire, forgetting that we have a lot of experience to give back to young goalkeepers.

“It is important that most of us who are coming to the end of our careers, that we do coaching courses so that we cannot cry about not having goalkeepers, we need to build them ourselves,” said Mweene.

ALSO READ: Sundowns add new technical team member to help the club with set-plays

Among many crowns, the Zambian-born Mweene boasts of the Africa Cup of Nations and Champions League gold medals, and says the pressure is on for the current crop of players at Sundowns to deliver another Champions League title.

“We want to make history. We are playing in the Champions League and there is the league and Nedbank Cup, but we have the experience to juggle all of these competitions and I think we just have to focus on one competition at a time,” said Mweene.

“Once you come to Sundowns as a player, you want to win and make history and you want to leave a legacy that they will remember you about. The mandate is to also make it difficult for other players who want to come into the club because it is not easy to continue where we left off,” he added.