Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has praised the return of
Gaston Sirino, hailing his story as “incredible”. The Uruguayan midfielder
had a fallout with Mokwena and the club’s management last season, leading
to rumours of an exit, but the two have since “kissed and made up”, with
Sirino making his first appearance of the season off the bench against TS
Galaxy in the Carling Knockout.
Sirino provided an assist for Thapelo Maseko in the team’s 2-0 win over
Petro de Luanda in the African Football League quarter-final first-leg,
and eventually earned a spot in the starting line-up in the second-leg,
where they won 2-0 on aggregate and progressed to the semi-finals.
#AFL Semi-finals, The Brazilians are coming!! ✅🔜
Mamelodi Sundowns 0️⃣(2)➖(0)0️⃣ Petro De Luanda #Sundowns #DownsLive #AFL pic.twitter.com/5UPza7YhLq
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) October 24, 2023
Mokwena says they have forgiven Sirino for his mistakes and his return is
for the betterment of the club. “Gaston has done exceptionally well since
his return, he showed incredible humility but that’s life you know.
Gaston’s story is an incredible story for all of us,” Mokwena said in a
post-match conference.
“We all make mistakes but like he has done, when you accept that you’ve
made mistakes and you are remorseful, you accept your wrongs, people
forgive and when we forgive we forgive genuinely, without holding any
grudges and we move on because it’s for the betterment of the club.”
Mokwena also praised Sirino’s teammates for welcoming him back into the
group. “We all want to see the club win and succeed. So he’s been amazing
and I’ve got to give him incredible plaudits for that and also I’ve got to
give his teammates incredible plaudits for welcoming him back and
accepting him back into the group and showing him the love that they have
shown him,” he added.
Sundowns will face Al Ahly in the semi-final first-leg of the African
Football League on Sunday at home.
