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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says he’s not surprised by the impact of Lucas Ribeiro Costa and suggests there’s still much more to come.
Costa, 24, joined Sundowns in the off-season from Belgian club SK Beveren, and after the injury to Peter Shalulile, he stepped in as their go-to-guy for goals.
With six goals and two assists, he’s directly been involved in a goal per game but Mokwena says it’s nothing surprising due to the work that went in before recruiting him.
“Am I pleasantly surprised? No, because there was a lot of work done behind the scenes from the scouting and data department, Ryan Hunt, Flemming Berg, the Sporting Director, there was a lot of work done there [to profile him],” Mokwens said about Costa and his immediate impact.
“There was a lot of work done by the office by Yogesh Singh, who even had to travel to Brazil. So the club made very extensive efforts to do that. I spent a lot of time watching Lucas, and I watched Lucas play in a different position than what he is playing now.
“But I was very clear from day one when he arrived, even to the players, they will tell you, of some of the qualities that I had identified from Lucas – that I felt the team needed. And then there were some areas he had to improve and work on to fit in the [game] model.
“He’s worked very hard to earn the trust of his teammates, I get the feeling when he plays and at training, and around the premises and facilities that his teammates trust him. And that is very important for a player arriving in the group… and it’s because of the work, humility, personality as a good human being.
“Above the fact we try to recruit the best players, one of the other things, we try to recruit the best players who happen to have the human qualities we think are needed to work with us and be in this organisation.
“Lucas has qualities you can’t coach, as a coach, you can’t improve, they are there and God-given. He’s Brazilian and many don’t understand there’s a difference between skill and flair, a lot of South American players have flair, you see it sometimes with Lucas, you see flair.
“It’s something you see with Neymar, Robinho, it’s not skill, it’s flair and element of elegance and he possesses that, but I think there’s still room for improvement, like with all players at Sundowns, we sit for corrections, we sit every day, watch training, corrections of training, matches, even small things like body language, it’s crazy.”
Costa will be aiming to continue his early season form when Sundowns face Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium in the DStv Premiership this evening at 19h30.