Vita loom large for wary Downs
FAMILIAR FOE AWAITS BRAZILIANS IN KINSHASA Coach Mosimane chuffed with the renewal of captain Hlompho Kekana’s contract.
Mamelodi Sundowns will need to fend off an AS Vita side that must be desperate to prove a point, if they are to get their 2017 Champions League group stage campaign up and running in Kinshasa today.
Masandawana produced an amazing run to win last year’s Champions League, but only after a fortuitous reinstatement in the competition. Florent Ibenge’s Vita, who had eliminated Pitso Mosimane’s men in the final qualifying round, were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in an earlier round, allowing Sundowns into the group stages through the back door.
As fate would have it, the pair are reunited in this year’s group stages, and both are looking to recover from poor starts to Group C. Sundowns could only draw 0-0 at home to St George of Ethiopia, while Vita were beaten 3-1 at Tunisian giants Esperance.
Mosimane’s side are likely to find the going tough today at the 80 000-capacity Stade Des Martyrs, in front of a hostile home crowd on an artificial playing surface.
Vita beat Sundowns 1-0 on another artificial surface at the Stade Tata Raphael in April 2016.
The Sundowns coach, meanwhile, has given clarity on the contract situation of some Sundowns players.
“We’ve been dealing with contracts to be renewed. Some players have option clauses in their contracts which favour the club, and we have exercised options on the contracts of players like Leo Castro and Wayne Arendse and we will be keeping them for the next year,” Mosimane told the Sundowns official website.
“There has been lots of talk and speculation about our players. We need to assure our supporters that we are not casual about contracts. We are working hard to finalise them.
“People must realise that contracts are negotiated, and this is not an easy process. We recently concluded negotiations for a contract extension for our captain Hlompho Kekana, and his contract has been renewed. Keeping our captain is important.”
Kick-off today is 3.30pm (SA time).