Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena appeared to take a subtle dig at Cape Town Spurs counterpart Ernst Middendorp by saying one of his ambitions is to work with the German as his assistant. 

While reflecting on their 1-1 DStv Premiership draw with SuperSport United on Tuesday, Mokwena said he admires Middendorp in what appeared to be a response to a recent statement where the fiery German said there are no colleagues in the football industry. 

Middendorp made those remarks last week after he nearly came to blows with his Orlando Pirates counterpart Jose Riveiro following their lively 1-1 DStv Premiership draw at Orlando Stadium. 

“One of the dreams to be Ernst Middendorp’s assistant, I phone him a lot just to talk to him and he knows that,” said Mokwena. 

“I like him, I like how he thinks, since he’s come back from his stint in Thailand his way of seeing things is amazing. He said something the other day that he doesn't think we have colleagues in South Africa and I hope he considers me as a colleague.  

“I admire him a lot. I must tell you it is still one of my dreams to be his assistant.” 

After his bust-up with Riveiro, Middendorp said he never had fights with colleagues such as Giovanni Trapattoni, Otto Rehhagel, Franz Beckenbauer and Jürgen Klopp during his time in the Bundesliga. 

“Colleagues being colleagues in the soccer industry in South Africa is non-existent, let’s be clear and honest,” said Middendorp last week. 

Before they took on United, the Brazilians were drawn against Young Africans of Tanzania in the Champions League quarterfinals and Mokwena said he is going to use the forthcoming Fifa break to study the opposition. 

“I watched the draw and all the games of the opponents in the Champions League but I have watched as a coach and not as an analyst. Now I have to switch and fortunately I have a nice Fifa break coming where my focus will be on Young Africans. 

“I will go as far back as I possibly can. I will try to see their profile. They have a good coach in Miguel Gamondi who was at Sundowns and they are an organised team with good structure. 

“Now I have to focus on our next game against Maritzburg United, which is a tough one because everyone expects you to win. Those types of games are the toughest, you just have to see the recent results where a team was expected to win in the cup and in the league they dropped points or dumped out of the cup.”