Billiat poser ahead of Wydad showdown
DOWNS COACH: HE MUST BE IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND
Reports say the squad were initially denied training pitch.
Pitso Mosimane has told Khama Billiat to get his head in the game, as he ponders whether to use the Zimbabwean striker tomorrow night at Wydad Casablanca, with Sundowns bidding to reach the Caf Champions League semifinals.
Masandawana have a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Tshwane, with Mosimane’s prayers for a return to fitness of one of his injured strikers answered as Ivorian Yannick Zakri came off the bench to net the winner at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
This time around, top of Mosimane’s wish-list is the return of Billiat who has been struggling with a recurring foot injury.
“It’s either we are in the semifinals or we are out,” he said.
“I told the whole medical team and the physiotherapists that I wanted to get one more player up front, and the one who looks likely to be fit is Khama. But as we know, he needs to have the mentality … he must be in the right frame of mind. He hasn’t played a single game in the Champions League and we are about to finish.”
This is only a slight exaggeration from the coach, as Billiat has played in one of Sundowns’ 2017 Caf Champions League games so far, the Group C home meeting with Ethiopia’s St George.
Billiat’s experience would be vital as Sundowns chase an away goal that will put them in an excellent position to make the last four, but it remains to be seen if he is focused following the whirlwind of speculation that surrounded his future before the transfer window closed.
Upon their arrival in Casablanca on Tuesday, Sundowns were reportedly denied a training pitch, though one was eventually organised for them at a later stage.
Mosimane said his team would not be destabilised by off-the-field antics, as they have become accustomed to them.
“We know the mentality. North Africans have a short fuse, they blow up quickly. It is not that they are bad, it is the culture and the mentality. It is okay, we understand that, it doesn’t mean anything and we have to understand.
“My boys know these things. We have been to ES Setif (Algeria) and Esperance (Tunisia) and now we are going to these ones. It is going to be a big fight there.”