It’s time to get down to it
Smug Sundowns will have to up their game in today’s Rayon replay
● A change in attitude and ruthlessness in front of goal is what Mamelodi Sundowns players have promised to deliver when they meet Rwanda’s Rayon Sports in Pretoria this afternoon in the second leg of the first round of the Caf Champions League.
That these two teams played to a goalless draw in Kigali last Wednesday was due to the 2016 champions underestimating their littleknown opponents.
Going into the match Sundowns were huge favourites against a team that has reached the second round only once in seven attempts in Africa’s premier competition.
Had Sundowns not been as “naughty” as their coach Pitso Mosimane described their performance last week, they might have secured a better outcome.
“We were naughty in the first half. You know what is naughty? We were playing around,” admitted Mosimane after that game.
It is questionable whether Mosimane and his troops bothered to take a closer look at Rayon’s 2-1 preliminary round victory over LLB Academic FC of Burundi in which Rayon’s Burundian-born midfielder Hussein Shabani scored in each leg.
What Sundowns discovered in Kigali is that Rayon are not afraid to attack and were unlucky not to win the first leg, given the chances they created.
As Sundowns were preparing for the return leg at the Loftus Stadium at 6pm today, the players spoke of their resolve to ensure they qualify for the group phase for the third time in a row and a fifth overall, which will be a South African record.
The pressure to deliver will once again fall on the shoulders of the attacking players that include Percy Tau and Themba Zwane, who were in the team that won this competition for the first time in 2016.
Zwane and Tau should be assisted by Jeremy Brockie, Guston Sirino and Sibusiso Vilakazi, who was signed late in 2016.
Ugandan-born Sundowns goalkeeper Dennis Onyango said his team learnt a lot about Rayon in Rwanda and they won’t repeat the mistakes they committed in the away leg. “I’m confident we will do well,” said Onyango, who was part of the Brazilians team that won the competition in 2016.
“The difference is the goals. We didn’t score in Rwanda. We need to score, we are playing at home.”
Onyango also spoke of last season’s campaign where they were bungled out in the quarterfinals by eventual winners, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.
“We want to avoid what happened against Wydad. We don’t want to go out on penalties again.”
Avoiding penalties will mean Sundowns will have to cut the carelessness they displayed when they played against the ABC Motsepe League outfit, EC Bees, in the Nedbank Cup last-16 tie in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Sundowns had to come back from a goal down after allowing Bees to take the lead in the first half.
Tau said they can’t afford to “play around and be naughty” against Rayon today.
“Winning will mean a lot for us as players. We are aware of the challenges but we believe we can do it. It’s only the mentality that needs to be right,” said Tau.
The mentality that Tau is talking about will have to involve Brockie, who is getting frustrated as he continues to search for his first goal at Sundowns. Brockie will also have to silence the Sundowns fans who turned against him when he missed some sitters against Bees. Getting a goal against Rayon should boost his confidence.
We don’t want to go out on penalties again
Dennis Onyango Sundowns goalie