Sundowns not keen to retain Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup
"Our wish is, as much as we are the current Cup holders, we are not too keen on winning the Cup," says Mngqithi.
Manqoba Mngqithi (2nd right) with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi (middle) during the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup on Wednesday. (Pic Twitter)
Mamelodi Sundowns may always insist that they want to win every tournament that they play in but this time around, the club have their priorities slightly tilted as they gear up to defend the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup later this month.
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Sundowns are the defending champions of the preseason tournament as they claimed the maiden title in 2019 before it was put on hold for two years due to Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa.
Downs co-head coach, Manqoba Mngqithi says the main focus is to make sure that they play as many games as they can in order to give a number of players a run out in the pre-season tournament, meaning they will have to beat newly promoted Richards Bay to set-up a final against either AmaZulu or Zululand District XI.
“We would like to first appreciate this initiative from the leadership of the Zululand district, we appreciate being invited to a tournament of this magnitude,” he told the club’s website.
“You could’ve chosen so many other teams but you chose Sundowns and we are not taking this tournament for granted. We really appreciate any given match that we get in preparation for the season and we know very well that normally we struggle to get friendlies around this time,” says the Downs mentor.
Masandawana may not have been busy in the transfer market as much as you’d expect them, but they still boast of a large squad and are capable of fielding at least three different teams, which is why Mngqithi insists on reaching the final.
“Our wish is, as much as we are the current Cup holders, we are not too keen on winning the Cup, but we are keen on making sure that we play two matches. There has to be somebody who gives us the opportunity to play the second match.
“From our side we have to make sure that the players that we are bringing on the day are able to play two matches so that both teams can get minutes on their legs on that day and that can only happen if we give ourselves the chance to go play in the final,” he told the club’s website.
