Sead Ramovic accuses Rulani Mokwena of poor sportsmanship

Speaking to the media ahead of The Rockets facing AmaZulu in the semifinals of the Carling Knockout Cup in Durban on Sunday, the Serbian mentor was seemingly still annoyed by Mokwena’s comments when the two sides last met in the opening round of the same competition. 

Galaxy eliminated Downs on penalties following a pulsating 2-2 draw that was not short of drama in Mbombela with midfielder Bongani Zungu sent off for a reckless tackle that left striker Bernard Parker with two broken bones. 

In his post-match interview, Mokwena moaned about the fixture being scheduled within the FIFA break and forcing Sundowns to play without seven Bafana Bafana players who were in Ivory Coast on national team duty. 

Ramovic said the Downs coach should have been gracious in defeat.     

READ: It's not a one-man show - Rulani Mokwena

“When we won, what was the excuses? He didn’t play with seven players – so how is this the respect for the players that played? How did he show respect to [Marcelo] Allende, who was bought for R60-million? What about the guy from Stellenbosch [Junior Mendieta], who they paid R12-million for? And then you have Zungu and a lot of other international players,” the Galaxy coach explained. 

“But he came up with an excuse to disrespect my staff, my players and myself. I think a very good and strong coach will not find an excuse, but he will say ‘fantastic job from Galaxy, a fantastic game plan…they beat us and we show respect’. I think he also disrespected his own team and his own players. I think the team that played against us can win the league.” 

Ramovic has now beaten Sundowns twice, what now appears a tall order for most DStv Premiership sides, since taking over Galaxy and they were the first local team to do so last season at Loftus Stadium. 

He says Mokwena also made excuses then.

“The first time we beat them he said we used the Catenaccio [system], which I cannot understand. I can promise you we will win again when we play against them. We won the game because we deserved it and we did not let them play better – we deserved credit, which is what I do when I lose against an opponent,” Ramovic added.