Vilakazi bracing for physical battle against Congolese side Sportive Otoho O’Oyo

Mamelodi Sundowns attacking midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi is bracing himself for a physical battle when the Brazilians face Congolese side Sportive Otoho O’Oyo in the preliminary rounds of the Caf Champions League on Sunday.

Vlakazi‚ who scored a beautiful goal for Sundowns in the 2-0 win over SuperSport United in the opening match of the domestic league last weekend‚ said they have watched Otoho O’Oyo's matches on video and they know what to expect.

“We have been able to go through some of their videos and that has helped us to prepare‚” he said.

“Video footage has helped us to somehow adjust our training sessions because we now know how they look when they attack‚ and how we must get better in terms of defending.

"We know what they normally do when they get the loose ball and we have been very hard at training with the coaches to be able to deal with their threats.

“We know that we can’t get it right 100 percent on the field of play‚ but we are determined to go out there and try to minimize as many mistakes as possible and manage the game well.

"We have prepared very well given their style of play and we will be looking to attack from the first whistle so that they can be under pressure.”

Vilakazi said Otoho O’Oyo are similar to Lobi Stars of Nigeria and AS Vita from Kinshasa.

“I can compare them to Lobi Stars and Vita‚" he said.

"They are physical and they can play the ball.

"On the attack they don’t have too many dangerous options because they often rely on pumping the ball forward where they rely on the second ball.

"It is one of those typical African sides‚ but we will be ready for the challenge because we have played against many teams who plays similar type of football.”

Vilakazi was hampered by a serious Achilles tendon injury while on national duty and he is hoping to be fit this time around as Sundowns go in search of their 10th Absa Premiership title and second Champions League success.

“There have been obstacles‚ things that stopped me along the way to becoming a regular scorer and contributor to the team‚" he said.

"When those things happen‚ you try as much as possible to overcome them and I don’t think that I have let myself down in terms of scoring more goals for the team.

"The past few seasons has been stop and go for me and I hope I can stay injury free.”