Mokoena inspired to bring out A game at Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena has highlighted an area where he needs to work hard in order to improve his game at the star-studded team.

Mokoena says he struggled in his first season at Sundowns after joining them from SuperSport United last year with intensity and worked hard on that during the pre-season.

This campaign, he has been fantastic in his role as a defensive midfielder and has played all 20 matches across all competitions.

“For me last season, I was struggling with intensity when I got here,” Mokoena explained to the media.

“So in the pre-season, I told myself that I needed to work on it and I did a lot of work on my endurance, stamina and I came back in a better shape.

“I’m enjoying myself right now as a number six because I think the competition we have in the team is what makes me a better player.”

The 25-year-old has been one of Sundowns’ in-form players this season and scored his first goal of the campaign in their 2-1 victory over Chippa United on Tuesday.

He gave praise to coach Rulani Mokwena for his progress.

“I was not really shocked about my move because I worked very hard to be where I am right now,” Mokoena said.

“But the quality here is very high. As I said, competition is what makes the club a competitive team. Even from the coach [Mokwena] I learned a lot. I can’t say what I’ve learned from him but I have learned a lot and I think as the players of Sundowns, we can say he is our inspiration because the work he puts in is out of this world.

“I don’t think anyone here at Sundowns works the way he does. So he is really an inspiration to us as players.”

Mokoena will look to continue with his impressive performance when Sundowns host his former team SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership Tshwane derby match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Monday (6pm).