Pitso says bring game on
MAMELODI Sundowns have shown they have an ever-improving bigmatch temperament‚ which can give them the advantage in today’s MTN8 final against Bidvest Wits‚ Downs coach Pitso Mosimane has proclaimed.
Mosimane has never been short on confidence and since Downs negotiated a punishing schedule to move past continental and domestic semifinals in the space of two weeks last month, the Brazilians’ coach has been walking on air.
Sundowns have an impressive 100% conversion rate so far under Mosimane in cup finals‚ beating Ajax Cape Town on penalties in the 2014-15 Nedbank Cup and Kaizer Chiefs in the 2015-16 Telkom Knockout.
Based on that‚ and beating Zamalek‚ Enyimba and ES Setif in the Champions League group stages to reach the mid-October Champions League final against Zamalek‚ Mosimane said his side do not lack big-match temperament.
Winning 3-2 on aggregate against dangerous Zesco United in the semifinal was a study in focus and tactical discipline from Downs and demonstrated their ability to flex their player muscle at crucial moments of big games. “I said it before the [MTN8 semi] against Chippa‚ that in my opinion we have a little bit of an edge
“But we make sure they don’t get close to the goals or score against us.
“So coming back to the question: We have an advantage because we are used to big games.
“And in the game on Saturday [today]‚ we’ll see. If we’re in trouble we’ll play effectively. If it’s open we’ll play the Sundowns game.
“But at the end of the day we want to lift the trophy.”
Unlike in the Champions League‚ where Downs were down to 18 players available against Zesco as a result of injuries‚ Mosimane has an almost full and intimidating arsenal against Wits.
His choices include players not registered for the Champions League‚ such as Sibusiso Vilakazi‚ Yannick Zakri‚ Thapelo Morena and the Brazilian centreback Ricardo Nascimento.