Mamelodi Sundowns defender Mothobi Mvala is grateful to coach Rulani Mokwena for helping him improve thanks to tireless attention to detail and hard work.
Mvala signed for Masandawana from Highlands Park four years ago, and has since become a regular in the Bafana Bafana squad.
The 30-year-old started out as a midfielder, but Mokwena has converted him into a centre-back – a position where Mvala has flourished in recent months.
“I think I have improved a lot since I joined Sundowns and worked with coach Rulani,” Mvala said.
“He is someone who pays too much attention to details. Everything starts at training and if you are not doing something right, he is someone who is not shy to call you and say, ‘I’m not happy with your training sessions.’
“He also gave me confidence as a player to work hard and advised me to say, ‘you must watch your training sessions and your games to do corrections.’
“If you have a problem, we can call him and all these things help you as a player to improve and those are the things that I learned since I joined Sundowns and worked under coach Rulani.
“You watch your games and see the mistakes that you make and it helps you to improve. I think everyone at Sundowns can see that their game is on another level.”