Wydad Sporting Club suffered a shock early exit from the Moroccan Throne Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Maghreb Tetouan, in a match that saw a clear lack of attacking effectiveness. The result dashed South African coach Rolani Mokoena's hopes of winning any trophy during his first season in the Moroccan league, especially after they fell behind in the title race to Raja Al-Beyda, who won the championship before the end of the season by a large margin.

Mokoena said a complete overhaul of the squad, both in terms of players and strategy, is necessary to ensure the team returns to real competition. Despite the inclusion of on-loan Sundowns stars Thembinkosi Lorch and Cassius Mailola, the team's performance has fallen short of expectations, leaving the club's management with a tough decision to make in the coming period.

What did Mokwena say?

Wydad coach Rolani Mokoena was furious with the performance of his players during the decisive match, describing the team's mentality as the main reason for the early exit. The South African coach emphasised firmly: ‘Either we have to change the mentality of the players, change the players themselves, or change the coach.’ He pointed out that the team only showed the desire to win after conceding the goal, which he considered a late and unacceptable behaviour.

Mokoena drew on his years of experience to issue a clear warning to his team, emphasising that crucial games require a different mentality. ‘I warned the players in the first half that the game would go to whoever takes it, and unfortunately we were the weaker side,’ he said. The coach, who is going through his worst period with Wydad, added: "It's not a performance issue, it's a mindset issue: "It's not a performance issue, it's a mindset issue and if we don't address this, we will repeat the same mistakes."