"This is painful and I don't know how to put it because it's something that we wanted to redeem ourselves with," Morena said.
Mamelodi Sundowns players after the CAF Super Cup 2026 match against USM Alger at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns winger Thapelo Morena has opened up about the disappointment of losing the CAF Super Cup final to USM Alger at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
The Brazilians suffered a 3-1 defeat in front of their home supporters, extending their miserable run in CAF competitions following their shock elimination from the CAF Champions League last month.
USM Alger took a 2-1 lead into half-time before scoring a third goal in the second half to secure a memorable victory and leave Sundowns empty-handed.
The defeat was another painful setback for Miguel Cardoso’s side, who were hoping to bounce back from their continental disappointment by lifting the Super Cup.
Morena admitted that the result was difficult to accept, particularly given the team’s desire to redeem themselves in front of their supporters.
“This is painful and I don’t know how to put it because it’s something that we wanted to redeem ourselves with and unfortunately today it didn’t happen,” Morena said after the match.
“There’s no lack of desire and like I said, if today was our day, then we could have taken the game in the first half.”
The 33-year-old endured a frustrating afternoon and was substituted at half-time after missing a glorious opportunity towards the end of the opening 45 minutes.
Morena believes Sundowns’ failure to convert their chances proved costly, while also pointing to the goals they conceded as another source of disappointment.
“I think it’s another heavy one for us to take in. I think the most important thing that we didn’t do was to convert the chances that we created,” he added.
“Their early goal gave us a little bit of a wake-up call that we need to push more but unfortunately we conceded from a set piece after we equalised. That’s something we worked on and unfortunately we couldn’t keep a clean sheet.”
Morena is among three players in the current Sundowns squad who were part of the team that lifted the CAF Super Cup in 2017, alongside Themba Zwane and Denis Onyango.
The defeat means that Masandawana have missed another opportunity to add continental silverware to their trophy cabinet. A lot of questions will be asked of Cardoso’s future after yet another low so early in the season despite their triumphant run in the MTN8.
