Tade seals it for Downs, but Pitso now troubled

● The arrival of Argentinean striker Emiliano Tade at Mamelodi Sundowns has given coach Pitso Mosimane a headache.

Mosimane has not yet figured out the best position for Tade, who got his Sundowns career off to a flying start by scoring on debut in the 3-1 win over Asec Mimosas during their Caf Champions League, group stages tie at Loftus on Friday night.

Tade, who joined the Brazilians this week from AmaZulu, started off on the bench and scored the third and final goal of the match during optional time after being on the field for a few minutes.

“The biggest challenge for me is where to play him because he is neither a winger nor a number nine. He is a number 10, but that’s a position where Gaston Sirino has done very well for us and this creates a problem for me,” said Mosimane after the win that took them to the top of Group A with six points from three matches.

Mosimane waxed lyrical about the composed manner in which Tade scored the goal in the closing stages to put the match beyond doubt: “You can’t ask for more from him, he was on the field for a few minutes before he scored his first goal for us. He comes with lots of experience and he has scored lots of goals in the past for clubs that he played for.

“He was composed; he knows how to play football; he is a typical South American. What a way to introduce yourself to the team and supporters against a strong team like Asec Mimosas in the Champions League.

“He is going to be good for us because we don’t have Cuthbert Malajila, while Jeremy Brockie has been struggling to score goals and somehow we have to play without a typical number nine.”

Sundowns and Asec will meet again on February 12 in the return leg in Abidjan and Mosimane is expecting them to be difficult to beat because there is still a lot to play for in the group.

“We know what to expect in Abidjan. Asec have good individual quality and have players with good technique. They have a star on their badge and have a lot of history and huge following in their country. It is not going to be easy and we have to be ready for them because a win there will really go a long way for us,” said Mosimane.

Before they travel to West Africa, Sundowns are up against Black Leopards in the Absa Premiership on Wednesday.