By their own standards Sundowns are a bit off

It was sad to see Mamelodi Sundowns failing to advance to the semifinals of the Caf Champions League. We saw ahead of the game that there was ill-treatment from Wydad Casablanca when they refused to organise a training pitch for the visitors. Even on the field the team was very aggressive, but what was pleasing is that Sundowns were able to withstand that challenge.

Unfortunately some of their big players did not come to the party as we have known them to do in the previous games, most notably Khama Billiat who lacked match fitness. They were not the Sundowns we are used to seeing, especially going forward.

They have a number of new players in the team who have, to their credit, so far worked very hard to help the team – the likes of Oupa Manyisa and George Lebese in particular – but they haven’t reached the level the team had established for itself. They haven’t gelled yet though they do give good performances. It is a matter of patience with them going forward.

After a youngster like Percy Tau missed a penalty, I think the first thing that must be done is to work on his mental state. Not only him, but the entire team needs to be counselled to a certain extent. Knowing Pitso Mosimane, I believe he has, or still will sit down with Percy and say: “My boy, you have given your best and this is just one of the things that will happen in football and these things are normal.”

The most important thing is that Percy must allow himself to accept the responsibility of missing the penalty, he shouldn’t pretend that nothing happened. We all know that in his mind, he is thinking he has let the team and the country down. As a coach, to erase those thoughts, I normally say to the boys I work with that I am aware they are disappointed and I understand their anger. I tell them not to be too angry with themselves. They must accept it because great players bounce back from these situations and I make them believe they are great players. The bottom line is that no one walks onto the field and says he wants to perform badly.

For SuperSport United, reaching the Confederation Cup semifinals is a huge feat on its own, and now they have a chance to go all the way and make history by lifting the trophy. As a coach, I am confident that is what is going on in the mind of Eric Tinkler and he has to instil that in the players, although they are very much confident themselves.

It was not easy for them, they had to fight and they fought until the end, but there is still a lot to work on, especially their offensive play when they are in possession. They didn’t create many chances for themselves and I think if they can fix that they will be a much more dangerous side.

I’d also like to condemn the behaviour of Bidvest Wits’ player Gabadinho Mhango, who spat on AmaZulu’s Michael Morton. Those are scenes we don’t want to see in our football. There are children who are aspiring to become professional footballers, and it is unacceptable for them to be exposed to such incidents. We can’t blame the referee for missing that, but with the luxury of TV replays, our PSL review committee needs to do much better.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Desiree Ellis and Banyana Banyana for winning the Cosafa Cup. It is a big step in the right direction for women’s football in our country.