Crucial week as Downs target two competition finals

MAMELODI Sundowns will spare no weapon in their arsenal in a quest to reach the finals of two prestige tournaments.

This is a crucial week for Sundowns as they need to shrug off Chippa United and Zesco United, whom they meet in the second leg semi-finals of the MTN8 and the CAF Champions League, tonight and on Saturday night respectively. Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana says he and his teammates will prioritise both competitions.

“It’s important to win these tournaments. We want them both. We are not going to prioritise one over the other. If we score goals in both matches, we would have sorted things out and set ourselves up for the finals.

“We need to be ruthless and take our chances. That’s all we have to do. We are refreshed. We anticipated these kind of things. We have a programme and we are coping very well. We want to go far in these competitions,” said Kekana.

“I am proud to be in this space. My teammates are also excited to be in the semi-finals of these competitions. It’s a chance for us to be in the finals of two different competitions. “It’s encouraging that our efforts have not been in vain. We want to make use of this opportunity.”

Kekana and his teammates are fresh from a tough battle in Ndola, Zambia, where they went 2-1 down to Zesco in a thrilling first-leg encounter.

What’s encouraging for Pitso Mosimane is that Kekana fought tooth and nail in Ndola, even when their backs were against the wall. In that match Sundowns displayed great fighting spirit to make a comeback after Zesco dominated.

They will need to show the same fight tonight.