SUNDOWNS HAVE THE MAGICAL 70 IN THEIR CROSSHAIRS
DESPITE having already won the Premiership title, Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has insisted that his team will continue to try and win their remaining games and are hoping to better the 67 points they got last season.
The Brazilians have three remaining league games – against Kaizer Chiefs, Stellenbosch FC and Royal AM – before they contest the Nedbank Cup final against Marumo Gallants later this month.
Should they win the Nedbank Cup, they will complete a treble, having won the MTN8 earlier this season.
Next up for Sundowns is Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday at FNB
Stadium.
Following the recent sacking of Stuart Baxter, Chiefs are under the leadership of co-coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard and will head into the game with some confidence after beating Marumo Gallants 1-0 this week, to end a four-match losing streak.
“At Sundowns, we don’t have any dead rubbers. Even in friendly matches, we try to win. We don’t want to disappoint our supporters,” said Mngqithi.
“We have a responsibility to the Yellow Nation to represent them with pride and dignity. It will be good to get 70 points.
“We urge our supporters to come in numbers, as our game against Chiefs can help us establish who is the boss of the
Calabash (FNB Stadium).
“We have done well in that space in the Champions League, and now we are meeting the real owners.”
Even though Chiefs have struggled for consistency for the best part of the last 10 years, Mngqithi is impressed by the way that Sheppard and Zwane work with young talent.
“Arthur and Dillon have done good work. They are bringing in youngsters that did well in the previous season. It is encouraging for us as South Africans,” he said.
“We have seen that youngsters like Njabulo Ngcobo have shown that they are ready. They have improved in leaps and bounds. Their style of play is better than it has been in our recent games against them.
“We still believe that we can go into this game and win it. They are coming off an impressive game, and that will allow them to be competitive in this game.”
All eyes will also be on Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile (inset). With 21 league goals, the Namibian is destined to win the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot Award. Should he score five more goals, he will beat the alltime record in a single season.
The current mark is held by Collins Mbesuma, who scored 25 league goals for Chiefs in the 2004/5 season.
Mnqgithi insists that individual records are not the focus of Sundowns.
“We have not looked into that. We are focusing on each game at a time. We don’t want to bring anxiety to Shalulile. We will help him to score if we can,” said Mngqithi.
“We would like to see him breaking the record, but it’s not on the top of our minds. We will try to support Peter, but won’t pile the pressure on him. He is one of the best professionals that I have worked with.”