Sundowns have their eyes on the prize

MAMELODI Sundowns could take a step closer to progressing to the Champions League quarter-finals if they beat Al Ahly in the group stage this weekend.

Coach Rhulani Mokwena’s team continued with their winning start in Group B this weekend, beating Coton Sport 2-1 in their second game after starting with a 1-0 win over Al Hilal.

Al Ahly didn’t start their campaign in the ideal way as they were beaten 1-0 by Al Hilal in their opener after coming back from the Fifa Club World Cup.

After that surprising result in Sudan, Sundowns will visit the Egyptians with high hopes that they come away with the win – one that will put them closer to the knockout stage. A 10-point tally is usually enough for a team to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“The focus is to get as close as possible to 10 points,” Mokwena said post-match.

“We must get ourselves mathematically into a position where we can think of ourselves being in the quarter-finals.”

Getting into the quarter-finals is not the ultimate mandate for the Brazilians as they have to improve on last season, when they crashed out at that stage a year ago.

They have to do better this season by winning the African title which has eluded them for the last six years – to prove they are not just a team that’s dominant on the local front.

Sundowns have all but wrapped up the local championship as they are sitting comfortably at the top of the standings, with the rest of the teams chasing second spot.

Mokwena, though, is not content with Downs’ progress saying the team still needs to improve, all round, especially after a tough second half against Coton Sport.

“I thought the first half was very good and in the second half, we struggled a little bit after we were put under a lot of pressure,” Mokwena said.

“But we’ll improve. We have to get better. Now we’ll focus on recovering the game and focus on a very difficult game against Al Ahly (over the weekend).”

Sundowns flew from Cameroon straight to Egypt after the clash on Friday. In the Land of the Pharaohs, Sundowns will meet some familiar faces in the Red Devils’ set-up, including former player Percy Tau, who’s been in top form recently.

Mokwena will be hoping that his players, who are relatively inexperienced in the tournament, including Cassius Mailula, who scored a brace against Coton Sport and Teboho Mokoena who captained the team, will continue with their fine exploits.