Mokwena calls on fans to roar Sundowns to Champions League win
'Tomorrow our fans have to play,' said the Sundowns head coach.
Rulani Mokwena addresses the media ahead of Friday’s Caf Champions League quarterfinal. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
The equation is simple – Mamelodi Sundowns basically have to win the second leg of their Caf Champions League quarterfinal against Tanzania’s Young Africans on Friday at Loftus Versfeld.
The game is delicately poised after the two teams played to a goalless draw last Saturday in Dar es Salaam. Such are the lofty standards at Chloorkop that anything less than a victory for the Brazilians will be seen as a failure.
Downs coach Rulani Mokwena, who will welcome back Themba Zwane, is adamant his players will need little motivation to get past Yanga and reach the semifinals.
“I think the players understand the mandate and the experience is there. One of the experiences that we don’t mention is the AFCON experience and it will also come in handy and I’m sure the players will dig deep into that,” he said.
The South African champions have already secured the inaugural Caf African Football League. Mokwena insists that the experience of that also will come in handy against Yanga who are in unfamiliar territory. This is the first time the Tanzanian champions find themselves at this stage of Africa’s premier club competition.
“These are the type of games that are won on details and small margins that shift or push the game either away from or towards you,” a confident Mokwena said.
“We have to be ready for that. The biggest lesson of Caf Champions League games is that you can’t get comfortable …. the moment you are comfortable, that’s when you are more vulnerable.
“With the score at 0-0, the potential of counter-attacks can swing the narrative of the game so we have to be careful when we are in possession. We’ve been in this situation where from the first leg it was 0-0 and we understand what happens.
“You just think about last season and in the semifinal against Wydad away in Morocco, we had to come here and unfortunately it ended 2-2 but that experience helped us in the MTN8 against Chiefs and in the AFL final against the same Wydad.”
‘The drum kept beating’
The 37-year-old coach has also called on their fans to pack Loftus for a game that could define the difference between success and failure.
“Tomorrow our fans have to play and they have to play the way they played against Al Ahly in the AFL – we won that game because of our fans,” he concluded.
“Not at any moment in the game were they quiet. The drum kept beating and I honestly believe if they fill up the stadium we make the opposition uncomfortable. In moments where we’re suffering they can suffer with us, they have to energise us.”
