Rhulani Mokwena praises Neo Maema for his professionalism
By Neo Poho
From the now defunct Bloemfontein Celtic to winning trophies and contending for CAF Champions League glory, Brazilians midfielder Neo Maema has seen his career flourish like the palm tree in the yellow and white colours of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Having joined Sundowns in 2021, Maema has been consistently influential in helping and contributing to Mamelodi Sundowns' success in the past season going on to clinch the league title, Nedbank Cup and MTN 8 with the side.
Playing alongside the likes of Themba Zwane, Andile Jali, Teboho Mokoena and Peter Shalulile has helped Maema grow as an individual and in the way he executes his approach to the game and that has also influenced his coach, Rhulani Mokwena to continue praising him for his professionalism.
"Neo is a top professional, a pleasure to coach because he is extremely intelligent and he is also a hardworking player too with an incredible work ethic," Mokwena said.
In the midst of all the praises from his coach, Maema still believes there is more that he can still offer to Mamelodi Sundowns.
"I am never familiar, nor do I get satisfied, I always want more and to do more, there are a lot of things that I can still learn in my career to advance my football to the next level," Maema said.
With Mamelodi Sundowns set to play against CR Belouizdad in the second leg of the CAF Champions League on Saturday afternoon at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Maema is confident Sundowns will get the edge of their opponents and advance to the semi-finals of the competition.
"When you sign up for Sundowns, these are the types of games you are looking forward to whether you are playing at home or away, these are the games that build your character as a player and that determines your consistency as a player too.
Heading into the encounter on Saturday means we should not be nervous, we are top professionals and we always seek to improve in every game, we have the objective of delivering trophies at the end of the day and we will always strive to succeed in achieving that goal," Maema added.
Sundowns head into the clash with a 4-1 aggregate lead from last weekend's first leg at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algeria with Maema also getting his name on the scoresheet after scoring Sundowns' second goal in that encounter.
Elsewhere, Al Ahly will travel to the Stade Mohammed V Stadium in Morocco for their CAF Champions League second leg clash against Raja Casablanca on Saturday night.
The Egyptian giants head into the encounter with a 2-0 aggregate lead from last weekend's first leg in Egypt.
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