Sundowns fully focused on crucial victory against dangerous Belouizdad
The Brazilians are determined not to set a foot wrong as they continue with their mission of recapturing the trophy
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has urged his players to guard against the emotional significance of playing a crucial Champions League quarterfinal clash against CR Belouizdad at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.
The Brazilians take on dangerous Belouizdad on Saturday determined not to set a foot wrong as they continue with their mission of recapturing the trophy.
Mokwena said his players needed to “play the match and not the occasion” at a venue named after SA’s iconic former president, and focus on getting the away win to earn a significant advantage in the two-legged tie.
“It is an incredible honour, a privilege to be able to put our foot in a stadium that is named after one of the greatest South African human beings,” Mokwena said.
“Even though his [Mandela’s] humility would never have allowed us to say that, he made an incredible contribution to who and what we are as South Africa.
“This is an opportunity to demonstrate our appreciation ... there will be the emotional connotation that is attached to playing at a stadium named after him.
“But like we always say, let’s play the match and not the occasion and part of the occasion is the name of the stadium.
“The biggest focus for us is to do whatever we can to pull off a victory.”
It has been a busy few days for Sundowns who, after losing 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal to Stellenbosch at Athlone Stadium on Saturday, travelled to Algeria via Egypt on Monday, arriving on Tuesday.
“It was a difficult time because we haven’t had enough time to recoup, so immediately after our previous game against Stellenbosch on Saturday, we had to travel back to Johannesburg.
“The following day we were packed and ready to travel to Cairo and link to Algiers, and that took almost 15 hours of travelling.
“But this is the space you find yourself in in the Champions League.”
Mokwena said Downs’ advantage was that they were used to travelling across the continent.
“Fortunately we have an experienced staff and experienced players who know how to handle the demands of a trip like this.
“From there it is about settling in and we have had our first training, which was more of an activation session by sports scientists.
“We had two training sessions already, we are working on football and moving into a bit more specific work about what to do for the match.
“A lot of work is being done behind the scenes with video sessions and trying to profile the opposition.
“We are also trying to analyse our performances and seeing where we can get better and improve.”
VAR will be used in the match but Mokwena said Sundowns’ focus would be on winning and not off-the-field issues.
“VAR becomes another component, but it is a component that is handled by match officials behind the scenes.
“It is a part of the game that is open to flaws and human error.
“Ours is not to put our minds behind it but to try to make sure we are focused on playing against a good side.
“They also know they will be playing against a good side, but we are focused on match performance and making sure we try to be at our best and perform at a level that is expected of us.”
Sundowns have not won in four league and cup matches since officially clinching the 2022-23 DStv Premiership title three weekends ago.