Sundowns coach Mngqithi gives update on Bongani Zungu’s progress

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi says it will be a while before Bongani Zungu, who recently returned to the club, gets a run on the pitch.

Zungu signed for Sundowns last week as a free agent after he parted ways with the French Ligue 2 side Amiens.

Mngqithi said Zungu, who won the Scottish Premiership but had a troubled period during his loan stint with Rangers in 2021, has not played for a long time and needs to put in some work before the midfielder is ready to play a match.

“He is still a little bit far [from playing] considering he was not part of the preseason training and he still has a bit of work to do because he has not been playing for the longest of time,” Mngqithi said after Sundowns' 1-1 DStv Premiership draw with Sekhukhune United in Polokwane.

“But we are hoping it will be shorter than two months because he is a very disciplined boy, who works very hard. He is showing interest to really come and assist the team.

“So we are looking forward to the progress that he will make in the next three to four weeks, and optimistic he is going to come in and help us.”

Zungu, 29, left Masandawana in July 2016 when he signed with a Portuguese side Vitória Guimarães where he spent a season before moving to France.

Mngqithi also explained the absence of their new Ethiopian signing Abubeker Nasir, who was not part of the team that was held to a draw by Babina Noko.

“He sprained his ankle in the game against Kaizer Chiefs, he should be back probably in the next week or two.”

By their standards five-time successive Premiership champions Sundowns have had a subdued start in 2022-23. They beat Cape Town City (2-0), lost against TS Galaxy (1-0), walloped Chiefs (4-0) and then drew against Sekhukhune. 

Mngqithi believes his troops did everything right against the Limpopo outfit except put away scoring opportunities. The coach was not concerned Downs have won two of their first four matches.

“I really believe the team performed well and deserved to win the match. We must also give credit to the opponent sometimes,” the coach said.

“The truth is I would not worry too much about the performance of the players.

“Against Galaxy, we were not happy with a lot of players' performances, but [against Sekhukhune] it would be those final decisions, that moment of anxiety and maybe a lack of emotional intelligence sometimes, but never the issue of players not performing to the required level.”

Peter Shalulile scored for Masandawana late in the first half while Linda Mntambo equalised seconds from the restart for the second.

Sundowns meet Stellenbosch FC in the league at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday night before turning their attention to the kickoff of the MTN8 with their quarterfinal against SuperSport United at Tuks Stadium on Sunday.

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