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.
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.
