Mokwena spills beans on Sundowns' little-known opponents Mathaithai

Rulani Mokwena says Mamelodi Sundowns' technical team has collected as much information as possible before their Nedbank Cup last-16 clash against Botshabelo amateurs Mathaithai.

Sundowns host the third-tier side, who play in the Free State ABC Motsepe provincial league, at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday evening (kickoff 6pm).  

“We’re looking forward to it and have tried to collect as much information as possible and tried to profile them,” Mokwena said in a virtual press conference on Monday.

Downs' co-coach is known for not leaving stones unturned in his profiling of opponents, especially those who campaign outside the Premiership, and it was no different for the team who style themselves the pride of Botshabelo.

“If you look at where they are in their log they are in position four. They played on Sunday and won 1-0. They are still a lot of points behind leaders De General FC,” Mokwena said.

“They have 15 points and De General are on 26, so the situation is complex for them in their league. But maybe with a bit more focus on their cup run, they have managed to do well to get to this stage.”

Mokwena said Mathaithai have good individual players, play a 4-3-2-1 formation with a pivot and start their build-ups from the back.

Mathaithai eased past fellow ABC Motsepe amateurs Northern Cape Professionals in the last-32 away in Kimberley.

The names and profiles of the Mathaithai players who could pose a threat dripped off the Sundowns co-coach’s tongue.

“They’ve got a good goalkeeper in Mbali Tshabalala, confident on the ball, industrious and aggressive in initiating build-up play. He’s comfortable with his distribution.

“One of their best players is probably jersey number 77 [Centropain Seepamore]. He used to play for Vasco da Gama and Bloemfontein Celtic and got a couple of caps for the SA under-23 team.

“He’s more experienced now as he is over 30, but still you can see his versatility in being able to help them play as a '9', as a '10' and sometimes even as one of the double '8s'.”

Mokwena said Mathaithai boast a fast attack.

“They’ve got a boy called 'Rashford', the jersey No 11 [Thabang Mabenyane], who is their focal point. He is quick and aggressive and looks to play behind the strikers.

“He takes wing play a lot and his crossing ability for that type of a role is not so bad.

“They’ve got Teboho 'Simunye' Modise, the jersey No 10, who I think is probably one of their most dangerous players. He is aggressive in his dribbling and gets into the final third more and plays in the central areas as well. He provides a lot of problems.

“They are a good team, a team that we tried to work on a lot last night to gather information.”

Mokwena said he took time to watch Mathaithai’s 1-0 win on Sunday against Kosvies FC.

“They changed and rested a couple of key players in their game yesterday, but OK, hopefully the information that we have collected comes in handy for us to be able to win the match tomorrow.”

While Mokwena was giving the lowdown on them, Mathaithai appeared to be on the road.

The team took an hour’s bus trip from Botshabelo to Bloemfontein from where they flew to Johannesburg for another bus trip for an hour to Pretoria.

Mathaithai hosted a community send-off prayer session and fundraiser at Kaizer Sebothelo Stadium in Botshabelo on Sunday. The Free State minnows asked for divine intervention against a ruthless Sundowns, who are expected to come out guns blazing after Maritzburg United inflicted a second defeat on them in the DStv Premiership on Saturday.

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