Sundowns venture into the unknown
● Mamelodi Sundowns’ commitment in remaining as SA’s number one flag-bearer in Caf club competitions is set to reach another level if they overcome Libyan club Al Ahli Benghazi in the first round of the Caf Champions League.
Over the past three editions, Sundowns have reached the group stages of Africa’s premier club gong. The Brazilians have the 2016 title to show for their efforts in a competition that has always been one of their main targets under Pitso Mosimane.
A win over two legs against Benghazi, a team which reached the group stages of this competition in 2014, will see the Brazilians make the group phase for the fourth time in a row, something their closest rivals in SA, Orlando Pirates, can only dream about.
Pirates, the only other winners [1995] of this competition in Southern Africa, have never made the group stages of the Champions League in two successive years despite having also contested the 2013 final.
Up against a tricky side
Mosimane conceded, though, before departing for Petro Sport Stadium in Egypt, where they will be hosted by Benghazi [at 5pm today], that they will be up against a tricky side and he won’t mind if they earn a draw and finish the job in Pretoria.
The Sundowns’ mentor must have looked at Benghazi’s preliminary round home tie result against FC Nouadhibou of Mauritania in which the Libyan team needed Farouck Kabore’s brace to win the second leg 2-0 having lost 2-1 away in the first leg.
“They prepare well because they are always in the camp,” said Mosimane of Benghazi.
“It’s been difficult to prepare for Benghazi because we’ve had no footage to look at as they have no league where they play regularly.
We must not concede
“All we know is that they play as a typical North African team, good on technique, an organised team with a rigid structure. We know that, so we have to dig a little bit deeper. If we don’t score, we must not concede.”
Mosimane is banking on his mobile players even though he will miss the services of Themba Zwane, who produced sterling performances when they beat Equatorial Guinea’s Leones Vegetarianos with a 7-1 aggregate score in the preliminary round.
“They (North Africans) don’t like people who dribble,” said Mosimane, who will need Gaston Sirino and Lebohang Maboe to provide the creative skills to open up the Benghazi defence in today’s match.
A positive for Sundowns is that their main man up front, Jeremy Brockie, has finally found his rhythm after taking more than a year to fit in a Brazilian system that’s not really suited for a target man. The New Zealand-born striker scored in each leg against Vegetarianos and should go to Cairo confident of adding to his tally.
They prepare well because they are always in the camp Pitso Mosimane
Sundowns coach