Downs underestimate Zamalek at their peril

MAMELODI Sundowns must be careful not to underestimate Egyptian club Zamalek when they meet in October’s African Champions League final after beating them twice in the group phase of this year’s competition‚ coach Pitso Mosimane has warned.

Saturday night’s 2-0 win over Zesco United of Zambia in the second leg of the semifinal ensured progress to the final and a chance to become African champions.

But to do so they will need to again get the better of the wily Egyptians and not take them lightly.

“It would be the biggest mistake we could ever do because Zamalek is more complex than Zesco. Zesco played long balls‚ that’s all. If you deal with the long balls‚ then no problem.

“There is no combination play in the midfield, but when you play Zamalek you are up against Hefny‚ Hosni‚ Shikabalala. They are unbelievably good. So it will be totally different.

“We need to just now forget the tactics we have used against Zesco and look to bring back how we played against Zamalek,” said Mosimane.

“But let’s be honest‚ Zamalek will not be happy to play us either. We have a different specimen of a team that the Arabs find uncomfortable to play against. We struggled more against the teams in the region because we play a little bit the same.

“Remember Chicken Inn of Zimbabwe in the first round? [Sundowns needed a last-minute goal to go through to the next round]. But the North Africans struggle a little with the way we play.”

Sundowns beat Zamalek 2-1 in Cairo behind closed doors and a fortnight later 1-0 in Atteridgeville in the group phase of the competition.

They now meet the Egyptians again in the final‚ hosting the first leg at Atteridgeville on October 15 with the return match in Cairo one week later.

Mosimane said hosting the first leg of the final at home was no disadvantage.

“The last time we played our first leg at home we beat Leopards [of Congo] 2-0 and then we went there and got a 1-1 draw. It doesn’t matter therefore when we play away and when we play home.”

Saturday night’s 2-0 win over Zesco United of Zambia in the semifinal second leg came with goals from Anthony Laffor and Percy Tau, but it was a rare start for Laffor.

“He is a player for the big occasion‚” said Mosimane. “When we play some of the smaller teams it is like he is not even there. But give him a big stage and he is ready.”

In the other semifinal Zamalek suffered a 5-2 thrashing at Wydad Casablanca of Morocco but still advanced to the final on a 6-5 aggregate.

Attempting to become the first club to wipe out a four-goal deficit in a semifinal of the premier African club competition, Wydad led 5-1 with 26 minutes remaining but trailed on the away-goal rule.

One more goal for the Casablanca club would have given them an overall lead, but it was Nigerian Stanley Ohawuchi who had the final say with a late second Zamalek goal.

Liberian William Jebor and Congolese Fabrice Ondama scored two goals each and Ismail El Haddad one for Wydad. Bassem Morsy was the other scorer for Zamalek. TMG Digital, AFP