Downs look to hit ground running
BRAZILIANS START TITLE DEFENCE
The road to defending their Caf Champions League begins tomorrow for Mamelodi Sundowns, who have to get past Ugandan side Kampala City Capital Authority (KCCA) over two legs if they are to advance to the group stages of this year’s competition.
Downs got a bye in the preliminary round, so they need to win just one tie to reach the group stages, with the competition format changed this year – the last 16 sides left in the competition will split into four groups of four teams.
Sundowns host KCCA in Atteridgeville in the first leg tomorrow and Pitso Mosimane stressed that his troops have to get the job done at home before flying out to East Africa for the second leg in a week or so’s time.
“It is a big one, we need to try and score a few goals because we can’t wait for the return leg in Kampala, it is a small pitch, it is an artificial pitch. The team we will be playing against won 7-0 in their last game. I’ve sent a scout. They are a ball playing team, they play a little bit different with three people at the back and two upfront, one of them is a 17-year-old,” he said.
KCCA beat Onduparaka 7-0 in the Ugandan Premier League in February, though their last match was a 1-0 win at The Saints on March 3. They are three points clear at the top of the table.
Mosimane is very much aware that his team will be under the microscope in this campaign, having stunned the continent to win the Champions League last year, after being handed a reprieve earlier in the tournament, following the disqualification of AS Vita.
“It is normal, everybody prepares more, last year we were a close book, nobody knew us, a lot of guys were talking about (us going through) the back door and we were underdogs last year. Now everybody knows about us and they are (more) aware,” the former Bafana Bafana mentor added.