Brazilians eyeing double over Red Devils

GOALKEEPER Kennedy Mweene says Mamelodi Sundowns will play the match, and not the occasion, when they host Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League this afternoon. That they meet their former coach Pitso Mosimane is all the same.

After the halfway mark in the group stage, Downs lead Group A with seven points, three ahead of second-placed Ahly. They’ll be eager to win and put one foot in the quarter-finals when they welcome the Red Devils.

But the reigning African kings, coached by Mosimane, will be seeking vengeance after Downs beat them in their own backyard two weeks ago.

With Downs, ‘Jingles’ won 11 trophies, including the continental crown, in less than a decade, before he joined the African Club of the Century, where he won back-to-back African crowns and bronze medals in the Club World Cup.

Mosimane returns home more motivated to lead Ahly to a win over Downs, given that he was recently rewarded with a new two-year contract after his remarkable work in domestic, continental and global football.

But the Brazilians are unfazed at meeting their former coach.

“He was our coach. But at the same time, it’s not about the coach, it’s about our team Sundowns and Ahly,” Mweene said. “I think it’s just up to us to go into the game and do what we have to do, although we still have respect for coach Pitso.”

Mweene might have said the game is between “us and Ahly, and not coach Pitso” but their job is cut out for them in their bid to achieve one of the crucial basics in the gruelling continental competition: winning home games to get an advantage.

Mosimane has won many matches at the FNB Stadium – the home of

Sundowns’ local rivals, Kaizer Chiefs – where the match will be hosted at 3pm. Chiefs, ironically, allowed Ahly to use their training base, the Taung Village, for their preparations.

“We played the first game in Rustenburg. So there’s nothing we can do. We have to go and play at FNB. But at the end of the day, we are home. We are used to playing there. And at the moment it’s about the country, not the PSL,” he said.

Downs are one of only two teams, alongside Raja Casablanca, that are yet to concede in the group stage. Kudos for that should go to their defensive contingent, including Mweene, after his match-winning saves in Cairo.

“One thing (that has kept me going) is to remain positive,” Downs’ second choice goalie said. “You must train smart, especially when you are my age. It all goes back to the kind of training with our coach Wendell (Robinson, the goalkeeper coach).”

With Denis Onyango injured, Mweene will be eager to rack up a successive clean sheet against Ahly. And despite the latter considering himself “not old at 37”, his experience will be invaluable as the last man if they are to complete a double over Ahly. @ Mihlalibaleka