'Maybe we need a good sangoma here‚' says Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane

19 September 2019 - 13:53 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane (L) with his SuperSport United counterpart Kaitano Tembo.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane (L) with his SuperSport United counterpart Kaitano Tembo.
Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

After his side's exit from the MTN8 at the hands of SuperSport United on Wednesday night‚ coach Pitso Mosimane struggled to find the right words to explain the reasons behind Mamelodi Sundowns' latest setback in the cup competition.

While humble and gracious after SuperSport beat Sundowns 2-0 in the second leg semifinal (3-1 on aggregate over two legs)‚ Mosimane even went to the extent of suggesting that perhaps he needs the intervention of a sangoma to halt the poor run.

“I don’t know why this trophy keeps on eluding us‚ I wish I knew.

"Maybe we need a good sangoma here‚ what can I say‚” said Mosimane.

Since he arrived at Chloorkop almost seven years ago‚ Mosimane has won four Absa Premiership league titles‚ the Caf Champions League‚ Caf Super Cup‚ Nedbank Cup and Telkom Knockout.

But the MTN8 has eluded him in six attempts.

In this six-year period‚ Sundowns were knocked out in the quarterfinal stage on four occasions‚ once in the semifinals and in the final.

But he wants to put the latest setback behind him and focus on the rest of the season.

“The top eight is a good tournament and we want to win it‚ but we are struggling to win it for whatever reasons that you can say.

"As I said‚ probably we need a sangoma but life goes on and we must move on‚” said Mosimane‚ who also congratulated United counterpart Kaitano Tembo.

“I want to congratulate Kaitano because he deserves a break and he needs this cup.

"He played a very good tactical game.

"I knew that if they get the early goal‚ it will be difficult for us with their watertight defence.

"We started to play well late in the second half where we showed urgency and attacked a lot on the left side‚ but there was not enough time to get going.

"We must accept this defeat.

"It is part of life and even good teams lose‚ we must accept it and move on.

“I don’t want to put my ego on this cup because it is not about me but the club.

"I have won this cup before (while it was still known as the SAA Supa 8) and Mosimane was at SuperSport‚ okay?

"At Sundowns I have not won it but it is not about me‚ there are other things to win also.

"We lost and we don’t want to give excuses or anything like that.

"Whether we are late starters or not‚ you now yourselves that we do well with momentum as time goes on. We need to focus on the next game because if you win the next one you feel better.”

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