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Mokoena targets winning momentum as Sundowns face Siwelele
Teboho Mokoena is hoping Mamelodi Sundowns can maintain their winning momentum when they host Siwelele FC in a Betway Premiership clash at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday night.
The Brazilians head into the encounter on the back of four successive victories across all competitions, with Mokoena playing a starring role in their latest triumph. playerbros.org
The midfielder scored a late winner as Sundowns edged Golden Arrows 2-1 away from home on Sunday, securing another crucial three points in a tightly contested encounter.
Sundowns will now turn their attention to a Siwelele side still searching for its first league victory of the campaign. They have drawn two of their five matches and suffered three defeats.
“Of course the next three games are very important for us. We need nine points and hopefully we get those nine so that we are in a good position on the log,” he said to the Sundowns media team ahead of the fixture, which is scheduled for 7:30pm in Tshwane.
Mokoena on Arrows win
Mokoena also reflected on Sundowns’ hard-fought victory over Arrows, admitting that the hosts made life difficult for the reigning African champions. The Bafana Bafana midfielder believes Sundowns could have been more clinical in the final third.
“It was a difficult game. I think Arrows played well and made it difficult for us. I think we played well in the first half,” the 29-year-old said while reflecting on his own performance.
“But we played in patches in the second half. If we fix our final third actions, then we will score a lot of goals, but it was a nice game for the fans, but it was not a nice game for us.
“We paid well on the counter-attack and we had a lot of chances, but we couldn’t take them. I scored the same goal in training so it’s normal. It was my son’s birthday, so it was a present for him.”
Siwelele make technical changes
Meanwhile, Siwelele have undergone changes to their technical team following their poor start to the campaign.
Head coach Lehlohonolo Seema and his assistant, Willem Jackson, have been relieved of their duties as the club conducts a review of the team’s performances and technical programme.
Godfrey Mosoetsa will take charge from the bench when Siwelele face Sundowns in Tshwane. Sundowns will take confidence from their previous league meeting, when they secured a thrilling 7-4 victory.
‘Outscoring us constantly with tries’: Springboks know defence will again be vital
The Springboks, who go into the fourth and final Test with a 2-1 lead despite scoring only eight tries to the All Blacks’ 13 in the first three games, say defence will again be crucial in Baltimore.
The teams play the final Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test in the United States after the All Blacks won 33-16 (five tries to one) in Ellis Park while the Springboks bounced back 33-26 in Cape Town (three tries to four) and 29-24 (four tries apiece) in Soweto.
New Zealand have scored 83 points to the Springboks’ 78, with Ardie Savea and Will Jordan leading the charts with three tries each.
Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus had spoken of how defence had to improve ahead of the last clash at FNB Stadium, which it did even though fullback Cheslin Kolbe went off in the ninth minute due to injury, and the backline had to be reshuffled, with Manie Libbok coming on at flyhalf and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu moving to fullback.
After naming his team for Saturday’s series decider on Monday night, Erasmus said his side had not improved in defence so much as they learned from their first Test against the All Blacks.
Especially in how they handled the breakdown, the All Blacks’ tempo, and defence in the wider channels.
‘Not the only thing that wins you matches’
“When the All Blacks make a line break, they have helluva speed,” Erasmus said.
“That’s the game they promote and obviously a lot of their training time – not that I know, we can just feel it on the field – goes into attack.
“They can certainly cut you apart and score some awesome tries. They’ve been outscoring us constantly with tries. Luckily that’s not the only thing that wins you matches.”
He argued that a penalty kick only yielded two fewer points than an unconverted try – something they learned the hard way after entering the New Zealand 22 many times through to scrum dominance in the first game, but failing to come away with points.
Young Springboks match All Blacks’ energy
“Then again, I don’t think there is a defence system that they will not breach the way they are playing,” Erasmus added of the All Blacks’ attack.
“The scramble defence becomes really important. Our guys can fight back and try to get a ruck where you can stop their offloads and great running skills.”
He said fast players under 30, such as Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Ethan Hooker, Grant Williams and Morné van den Berg, bring energy and speed to the scramble defence.
Many of the older Springboks can keep up. They also bring calmness to the defence, and both speed and composure were important, Erasmus said.
Ballon d’Or 2026 : De la Fuente, Enrique, Arteta… les cinq coachs nommés pour le titre d’entraîneur de l’année
La domination espagnole ne se limite pas aux joueurs dans cette édition du Ballon d’Or. Dans la catégorie consacrée aux entraîneurs, la sélection dévoilée par France Football fait la part belle aux techniciens ibériques. Quatre des cinq candidats retenus sont espagnols, une particularité qui attire forcément l’attention.
Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery et Luis de la Fuente représentent ainsi l’Espagne. Face à eux, Vincent Kompany sera le seul entraîneur d’une autre nationalité à tenter de décrocher la distinction.
Cette sélection réunit des profils très différents. Certains se sont illustrés sur le banc d’un grand club européen, tandis que Luis de la Fuente défend les couleurs d’une sélection nationale.
Luis Enrique peut encore marquer les esprits
Le technicien du Paris Saint-Germain connaît déjà la sensation d’être récompensé. Après avoir remporté le trophée lors de la précédente édition, Luis Enrique est de nouveau en lice.
Son parcours avec le club parisien lui offre une nouvelle possibilité de conserver cette distinction et de confirmer son influence parmi les entraîneurs les plus en vue du football européen.
Quatre parcours, quatre profils espagnols
Derrière Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta représente Arsenal. L’ancien joueur du club londonien s’est progressivement imposé comme l’un des entraîneurs majeurs de Premier League.
Unai Emery, de son côté, apparaît dans cette liste grâce à son travail avec Aston Villa. Fort d’une longue expérience au plus haut niveau européen, l’Espagnol reste l’un des techniciens les plus reconnus du continent.
La sélection espagnole est complétée par Luis de la Fuente. Contrairement aux trois autres, il exerce au niveau international avec la Roja.
Kompany, l’intrus dans cette sélection espagnole
Seul entraîneur non espagnol de la liste, Vincent Kompany tentera de faire la différence face à quatre techniciens issus de la même nation.
Le Belge, installé sur le banc du Bayern Munich, constitue donc l’unique représentant d’une autre école footballistique dans cette sélection.
Avec cinq candidats aux parcours et aux contextes différents, le vote promet d’être particulièrement intéressant. Le nom du lauréat sera dévoilé lors de la cérémonie du Ballon d’Or 2026, organisée le 26 octobre à Londres.
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