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SuperSport United to face Pedro de Luanda in a must win match

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SuperSport United caretaker coach, Kaitano Tembo, does not see the Caf Confederation Cup campaign as a distraction to their quest of surviving relegation in the Absa Premiership. Tembo says it is an opportunity to refocus and rebuild the team.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori face Pedro Atletico de Luanda of Angola in a first round, second leg match of the competition. Tembo is caretaker coach due to the departure of Eric Tinkler. He is hopeful the continental matches will bring back the team morale and confidence. SuperSport are winless in their last three matches.

They are in a must win situation to progress further in the Caf Confederations Cup against Pedro de Luanda. In the first leg, they played to a goalless draw in Angola.

SuperSport are 14th on the log in the Absa Premiership but that is not reason enough to sacrifice the continental challenge.

“The most important thing is to bring back the team to our winning ways, play the football that we are used to and at the same time get the desired results to take us out of the relegation zone,” Tembo said.

The experience gained from their last campaign when they reached the final, will be influential in how they approach the competition.

The entire team will remember that it impacted negatively on their performances when they returned from the final against TP Mazembe.

“If you look at the last campaign I think the players didn’t have enough time to rest. We were running on empty towards the final and when we lost it kind of deflated the team in terms of energy and mentally, so it was always going to be difficult,” he added.

Although it has been a strenuous year due to the competition, it would be very hard to ignore the positive effect the continental competition had on the overall development of young players in this team.

Aubrey Modiba and Teboho Mokoena admitted that playing on the continent had an influence on their Bafana Bafana selection.

“I’m happy the team is taking the Caf Confederations very seriously because it’s helping us to gain experience to have that big heart to have that winning mentality the fighting spirit, ” said  Aubrey Modiba.

The match on Friday between SuperSport and Pedro de Luando will be played at the Lucas Moripe Stadium and kick-off is at 7pm.

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