Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena says his team will draw from the experience they gained in the African Football League to overcome Young Africans from Tanzania at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening. The Brazilians will meet Yanga in a CAF Champions league second leg quarterfinal match.
Mokwena also sent his deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kaizer Chiefs defender, Luke Fleurs, who was killed in a hijacking in Gauteng’s West Rand last night.
Sundowns hopes of reaching the CAF Champions League semi-finals are hanging in balance. They need to beat Young Africans from Tanzania at home in the second leg after playing to a goalless draw in the first leg last weekend.
Coach Rhulani Mokwena says they will use the experience they gained in the African Football League, a title they won after they found themselves in a similar situation.
“We have been in this situation before where we had 0-0 first leg unfortunately it was 2-2 and that experience helped us against Chiefs and AFL when we lost to Wydad in the first leg and 0-0 draw is not like 2-1 defeat and we have to dig from that experience.”
Yanga, who are the log leaders in their domestic league, defended very well and were a tough team to crack in Tanzania. And Mokwena acknowledged that it would be no walk-over.
“Yanga are a very good side you can see with the results in the domestic competitions last season they were in the Confed Cup final, this season they qualified from a difficult group with experienced teams especially Belouizdad that is out,”
Sundowns defender Khuliso Mudau played an instrumental role when the Brazilians won the African Football League earlier this season.
He was also a key player when Bafana Bafana earned a bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early this year. Mudau is now desperate to add a Champions league gold medal to his list of achievements.
“It’s important for us to win Champions League imagine for me I played for Bafana and won bronze medal so imagine if I don’t win Champions League, I mean it doesn’t make sense.”
Meanwhile, both Mokwena and Mudau also sent their deepest condolences to the family and friends of Chiefs defender, Luke Fleurs, who was killed in a car hijacking on Wednesday.
“It’s befitting to start by sending condolences to his family and the bereaved, Chiefs family and SuperSport United that invested in him as a footballer,” says Mokwena.
“Condolences to Luke’s family, it’s bad for a young player to pass on like this it’s very painful for us,” says Mudau.
Mokwena also appealed to Sundowns fans to fill up Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening. The match kicks off at 8pm.
