Sundowns defender shrugs off Al Ahly’s mind games
The Egyptian giants begun mind games when they changed the venue of the tie from their usual Cairo International Stadium to the bigger Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria.
Wayne Arendse of Sundowns celebratesa goal during the 2018/19 CAF Champions League football match between Sundowns and Al Ahly at Lucas Moripe Stadium. (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
The last time any team overturned a result almost as heavy as Al Ahly 5-0 first leg Caf Champions League quarterfinal defeat at Mamelodi Sundowns was over 10 years ago.
That was when Cameroonian side Mount Cameroon FC overturned a 5-1 deficit against Ajax Cape Town when they beat the urban Warriors 5-0 in a return leg of a Caf Confederation Cup match.
If Ahl Ahly are to advance to the semifinals of the Champions League, they will need to perform a even greater miracle when they host Sundowns tomorrow evening as they look to overturn the 5-0 deficit from the first leg.
READ: Al Ahly change venue for Sundowns clash
The Egyptian giants begun mind games when they changed the venue of the tie from their usual Cairo International Stadium to the bigger Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria.
However, Wayne Arendse promises a solid performance at the back as games of this magnitude bring out the best of him, he claims.
“Playing against Ahly brings out the best in me and the other players as well. We know the quality that they have in their team, there is about eight or nine international players who are playing for Egypt, Morocco and so forth.
“Games like these just bring out the extra drive in you and if you want to win the Champions League you need to play against the best teams, and not to take other teams for granted,” said Arendse.
While Arendse will be trusted to distinguish Al Ahly’s attacks, Themba Zwane is expected to star up front as he is the competition’s top marksman with five goals.
“We need to play our game because we know that they are going to come at us and they are going to open at the back and we know that we have a strong attack and we will manage to get a few goals,” said Zwane.
“It is not going to be easy but we know that as team we need to fight so that we can qualify. It is not going to be easy but we know that we are going to have pressure but we are going to keep calm and try to play our football and try to get two or three goals.”
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