It’s embarrassing for Downs to still be playing in Caf preliminary rounds: Mngqithi

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says it is embarrassing for the Brazilians to still be playing in the CAF preliminary rounds.

Sundowns were drawn against Seychelles minnows La Passe in the preliminary stage and walloped the Indian Ocean islanders 7-0 in the first leg.

The second leg, where another drubbing is expected, takes place on Friday at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld Stadium (5.30pm).

Mngqithi said in Caf, only four teams are seeded and exempt from preliminary rounds.

He would rather eight teams are seeded to lessen the early, easy stages where teams are buried with an avalanche of goals, which also wastes time and resources.

“It is a bit unfortunate with the way that Caf is doing it. I think it is Al Ahly, Wydad AC, Esperance, Raja Casablanca or TP Mazembe who are exempted from playing this round,” said Mngqithi.

“Maybe they are worried some teams might not be in the Champions League because it does happen in Africa. It is a little bit complex ... competition wise. Yes, to a certain extent it is a bit embarrassing to be still playing preliminary rounds.”

Mngqithi said the pre- and post-2022 Fifa world schedule would be a serious challenge.

“It is going to be tough because when you have eight weeks of no competition and then you must consider having another preseason preparation for a game that will be played on New Year’s Eve (Sundowns will face Orlando Pirates).

“Worse, still having the Carling Black Label Cup to play adds another week.

“But it is what it is and we have to find solutions because it is important to understand that supporters just want to watch football. So they are looking forward to the Carling Black Label Cup because it is something that gets them involved and you cannot take that excitement away from people.

“We always say this is a game for the people and we will have our preseason preparations and maybe go to a tournament somewhere so that we can have some game minutes before the game against Pirates.

“It is awkward that we will be off from Christmas and then back immediately again to prepare for a match on New Year’s Eve. It will be interesting to see the mood of that match, more especially the mood of the spectators, if they will be there,” said Mngqithi.