Sundowns coach confident of lifting MTN8 trophy

Mamelodi Sundowns want to make use of their home ground advantage when they host a stubborn Stellenbosch FC in the first leg of the MTN8 semifinal on Wednesday evening. The two teams will face each other at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.

Sundowns will be away to Stellies in the second leg at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Sundowns have won the Premier League the last seven seasons and are aiming for an eighth successive title this year.

But they don’t have a good track record in the season opening MTN8 competition. The Brazilians won it in 2007 and had to wait 14 long years before winning it again in 2021. However, coach Manqoba Mngqithi is a man on a mission and wants to start the new season on a high.

“It’s a big one but what I said last was I think I was the first one to win the MTN8 and I think again we are also going to be the first ones to win the MTN8 with the prize money of R10 million. I think almost all the new signings have shown good mentality and they’ve been integrated well into the group they are all looking very good,”

“We had a four-day cycle to prepare for this match which is normally our maximum that we get for any match if we’ve got time because normally, we play every two or three days. But we were fortunate this time around to have a four-day cycle which I think everybody has adapted well. We are playing against a team that is slightly different, it’s a team that reminds me a little bit of my old Golden Arrows team, very dangerous off the ball,” Mngqithi elaborates.

Sundowns is one of the most attacking sides in topflight domestic football and they will continue with that approach.

However, they were almost found wanting in their first-round match against Polokwane City.

“Had we scored maybe three of the 24 chances that we got maybe this could have been a different story, but the fact that we ended up winning a game with an own goal, to someone who does not watch football attentively. it says it was really tough for us but the truth of the matter is we nearly gave it away but honestly speaking I think the boys played very well,” Mngqithi explains.

Sundowns should be concerned about their match fitness having played just one competitive match in the last two weeks.

Stellies on the other hand, have already won two matches in their debut season in the CAF Confederation Cup, as well as reaching the semifinals of the MTN8 after beating TS Galaxy in the opening round.

“Sometimes it’s a tricky one because I think the more you play games the more you gain confidence and match fitness and I think that has really helped them because they’ve been very active. But we are a big team, a team like Mamelodi Sundowns we can’t really dwell or focus on that, we just have to apply ourselves in each and every game that we play because like I said it’s a big team, we can’t make any excuses to say we haven’t played in a long time or what,” says Aubrey Modiba, Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder.

In the first semifinal match of the MTN8, defending champions Orlando Pirates will be away to Cape Town City on Tuesday evening.