Sundowns intend to unsettle Al-Ahly very early
Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana says he and his teammates are aware of the delay tactics that Al-Ahly might deploy to frustrate them.
Coach Pitso Mosimane and captain Hlompho Kekana during Mamelodi Sundowns’ press conference (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
The skipper, however, insists that their counter strategy is to score goals when they meet in the return-leg of the Caf Champions League quarterfinal in the capital city on Saturday.
READ: Kekana signs new long term contract with Sundowns
The Red Devils lead the tie 2-0 and the Brazilians will need to score at least three unanswered goals if they are to reach the last four for the third year running.
“There is no special plan really. The only plan that we have is to score (early) goals and that will help us to settle in the game. That is the only thing we want to impose in the game because we need that crucial first goal that will really give them pressure,” said Kekana.
“We know very well that we did not score the goal in Egypt and that is something that we need to rectify. This is a match that we cannot start slow. I believe an early goal will set the tone tomorrow. We need to make sure that we start well because it is a match that we need to win and win by three goals to zero because we cannot allow them to score a goal here at home.
“I love the fact that when we score first the next goal usually comes and I hope tomorrow the goals will come in numbers because we need a lot of them,” he added.
The challenge is that Dows have a bit of a mountain to climb but as motivation, Kekana wants to dwell on the positives such as when the swept the floor with Al-Ahly last season with a 5-0 drubbing and the fact they went through the group stages without tasting defeat.
“We are building from the positives that we had in the group stages that we did not lose a single match, we want that kind of performance tomorrow and that that is something that we have been doing at training, focusing on the finishing because we really need the goals and I can see that the front guys are looking ready and motivated. I hope we don’t give stage fright and we do what we have to do.
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