Rulani Mokwena embracing the tough task of restoring Morocco’s Wydad to powerhouse status

7 Jan 2025

Half a season into his tenure as Wydad Casablanca coach, Rulani Mokwena is feeling the heat with the Moroccan club’s form being patchy at best. However, the South African remains optimistic he is the right man for the job.

It’s been six months since Rulani Mokwena took the biggest leap of his career to date, accepting a job with Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca after being relieved of his duties by South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

Whereas he inherited a well-oiled machine when he and Manqoba Mngqithi took over Masandawana from Pitso Mosimane, the challenge that Mokwena accepted when he agreed to the Wydad job was immense.

Just like Sundowns in South Africa, Wydad has won the most league titles in Morocco. The Castle has largely been an immovable force on home soil, boasting 22 Botola Pro League gold medals and 17 silver medals. The next-best team is Wydad’s city rivals Raja Casablanca. They have won the league 13 times, including last season — when they were undefeated throughout the whole Premiership campaign.

During the 2023/2024 season, Wydad had a forgettable campaign. They finished a lowly fifth place in Morocco’s top flight — the Botola Pro League. For many teams, this would not be a crisis-inducing placing, but for Wydad it was.

It was the team’s lowest league finish in a decade. In 2013/14 they placed sixth. Since then, they have either won the league (five times) or finished as runners-up.

Wydad Casablanca coach Rulani Mokwena. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

Rulani Mokwena argues with Abdel Mohamed during the CAF Champions League match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Pyramids FC at Loftus Versfeld on 10 December 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

As a result of last season’s displays, they missed out on taking part in any Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions in the ongoing season. This includes the CAF Champions League, which they have lifted three times, most recently in 2022, as well as the auxiliary CAF Confederation Cup, which they last won in 2002.

A large part of Wydads’s recent issues have been financial. This has seen the team being banned by global soccer’s governing body Fifa from signing any new players, due to owing players money. They have since fixed this.

In late 2023, Wydad’s then president Said Naciri was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and forgery. Hicham Ait Mena subsequently took over the reins from the disgraced Naciri, with Mokwena forming a major part of the club picking up the pieces and attempting to restore its dignity.

Mokwena (who says Wydad called him 24 hours after he officially left Sundowns) told CAF in a recent interview that arriving to such a situation was less than ideal, and that it had been a bumpy ride adjusting to life in Morocco.

“The club is in a very difficult situation. A club of Wydad’s stature should be in the Champions League. That something that hurts me, the fact that we are not in the Champions League. But we know where the club is,” Mokwena told CAF TV.

“We have to work a lot harder now to get it where it should be. That’s something that motivated me (to take this job). The project was enticing; to revive this incredible club. It’s had incredible players, incredible coaches and incredible success. I wanted to be a part of that… To revive this sleeping giant… Slowly and surely we are getting closer to where we need to go,” the 38-year-old stated.

Mokwena also spoke about some of the challenges he has faced since making the switch to the north, following in the footsteps of one of his mentors — Mosimane. The latter paved the way for Mokwena when he joined Egyptian giants Al Ahly in 2020.

Rulani Mokwena speak to Lucas Costa of Mamelodi Sundowns during their DStv Premiership match against AmaZulu at Loftus Versfeld on 27 February 2024. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

“The transition from a cultural perspective has been challenging. You’re coming into a very conservative society, a very respectful society. This as opposed to a very liberal society in South Africa. So, the culture is a lot different, and so is the language. So, to connect with people becomes difficult,” Mokwena said.

“The immediate goal was to get an identity, and this is what big clubs have. Over the years you’ve seen Barcelona, you’ve seen Ajax staying very true to their identity and their style… This is what Manchester City is currently doing. This is what Wydad wants to do,” the coach said.

Mokwena’s start to life at Wydad has been difficult. Currently the Red Castle sits sixth on the Botola log table, with a mixed bag of results. Mokwena’s team has played 17 matches — with seven wins, six draws and four defeats. Mokwena did not lose many matches during his four-year stint as Sundowns coach, so this is new territory for the Soweto native.

Yet he remains resolute in his belief that he can restore the dignity of Wydad, especially with the team being one of Africa’s four representatives at the Club World Cup. The tournament is set to take place over June/July in the US.

“By the end of this season we want to be in the Champions League again, we want to be competing in CAF competitions. We want to have an incredible club World Cup where we can sell the club as one of the big clubs in the continent,” Mokwena said.Having had a taste of what it will take to reach this level in his first six months at the helm, Mokwena will be hopeful that this year his team can find the rhythm required to climb to the heights he envisions for them. DM

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