Sundowns are going to fight fire with fire
Pitso: Gone are the days where we are good boys
THE fire-breathing dragon that Pitso Mosimane transformed into, just before midnight on Saturday at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, will make regular appearances in the Caf Champions League and even in the PSL if he is pushed.
Mosimane was spitting fire at fulltime after Mamelodi Sundowns’ emotionally-charged 2-1 win over Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca. The Brazilians not only showed superior tactical acumen, but they were also street-smart. They displayed some of the gamesmanship north African teams are famous for. The ball boys dragged their feet, Sundowns strategically killed time, but most importantly they refused to be bullied by the former African champions – showing mental strength instead of cowering from pressure like most teams do against north African teams who rule the roost in continental football. It was a perfect response to criticism that Sundowns are one-dimensional, always wanting to play beautiful football even in matches that need gladiators.
“Gone are the days where Sundowns are cheese boys and good boys. Not when I am here,” Mosimane said. “We have to fight fire with fire, even in the local game – the PSL. We will fight fire with fire. Anywhere we go. Any stadium we go to, we are going to fight fire with fire, and if you don’t have that spirit and mentality – you’ll never play in my team. Never! You will never win any title. Being fainthearted doesn’t win you anything. Forget about it. It’s gone. We’ll have time to play beautiful football and entertain everybody, but when a fight comes – we will give the fight. It is the way it is. We know what is going to happen when we go away. We are ready for that.”
Sundowns’ win over Wydad opened up Group A. The four teams, along with Lobi Stars and Asec Mimosas, are all tied on three points after two rounds. The Brazilians will face Asec back-to-back next month, starting with a home tie next Friday before making the trip to Abidjan. Sundowns last two matches will be played in March, a home tie against Stars before they end their group stage campaign with a trip to Casablanca. Mosimane, immediately after the draw for the group stage was conducted, said his team must have qualification to the knockout stage secured before their trip to Morocco. It’s imperative that Sundowns do so after Saturday’s heated exchanges and the possible retaliation they will face.
“You know we are supposed to be boxing but people take their gloves off,” Mosimane said. “So you decide if you’re also going to take your gloves off or you will fight (cleanly) with your gloves on. We took them off also and gave them a taste of their own medicine. I think you know what’s going to happen to us when we get to Casablanca in the last match. Hopefully we don’t wait for that last match to get the result (that will take us to the quarter-finals).”
The Brazilians refuted claims by Wydad, before the match, that Sundowns didn’t send someone to fetch them from the airport and give them a bus as the regulations stipulate.
“They didn’t tell us when they are arriving,” Sundowns’ acting general manager, Yogesh Singh said. “We had everything booked for them. When we found out they were in the country, we arranged everything for them. It’s about communication. There was a failure in communication. The rules says they must communicate their itinerary to the Moroccan federation who must tell Safa and Safa will tell us. They didn’t tell us.”