Sundowns needed nerves of steel in Egypt, says Kekana

HLOMPHO KEKANA left South Africa last week looking to emulate his childhood hero Mark Fish, who won Africa’s premier club competition with Orlando Pirates when the Mamelodi Sundowns’ captain was still at school.

Kekana returned to SA this morning having emulated Fish’s achievment when the Brazilians beat Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate to win the Caf Champions League.

But that right comes with a lot of responsibilities, like representing Africa at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December and contesting the Caf Super Cup.

Those commitments will further add to the already congested fixture list that the Brazilians have to now negotiate.

Tomorrow they start their defence of the Telkom Knockout against Polokwane City at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

After Polokwane, Sundowns will play catch-up in the PSL which they are also defending.

Sundowns went through hell to earn the continental title, especially in Alexandria on Sunday. Zamalek fans not only packed the Borg el-Arab Stadium, but a few of them threw missiles at the Brazilians just before the match.

“We knew about the treatment that we would receive,” Kekana said.

“We knew that it won’t be like in South Africa where only one match, the Soweto derby, brings a sold-out crowd and you have something like 40 security guys. We knew that wouldn’t happen in Egypt.

“There needed to be soldiers to keep the place calm, guarding the crowd. That in itself tells you that this was a bigger match.

“It needed nerves of steel to step on to that field and be calm.”

But Sundowns’ players took the missiles and the taunts from the fans in their stride.

“We didn’t even talk about it after we had stuff thrown at us because speaking would dilute the message,” Kekana said.

“The fans made it loud and clear, that it was war and we needed to be ready for it. We were ready, which is why we won this trophy and passed the task.

“We are champions today because of that. That thing (missiles thrown at us) drove me to try harder.”

Sundowns’ next two matches aren’t high-profile and will not draw a big crowd.

These matches will test the club’s mental strength though.

Rise and Shine in the Cup and Cape Town City in the league will be tricky, not difficult like Zamalek.

“It’s a special achievement that we won in such conditions. Coming to Egypt, we knew that if we don’t focus we might find ourselves in trouble.”

It would do Sundowns the world of good to apply the same mentality now, because if they don’t focus on their next two games they might find themselves in trouble.