Advance team helps Sundowns tick every box for Caf travels

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has given credit to their advance team for ensuring smooth landings on their Caf Champions League travels.

Before they arrived in Cameroon earlier this week for their group stages match against Coton Sport at Stade Omnisport Roumdé Adjia in Garoua on Friday, the advance team of Goolam Valodia and Khaled Ali had been there to deal with logistics.

In an impressive display of organisational capacity from a team seeking to add a second Champions League to their 2016 title, Valodia and Ali have already ticked the boxes for their travel to Cairo, Egypt to meet Al Ahly and Khartoum, Sudan for their game against Al Hilal, where Downs will intensify their group campaign over the coming weeks.

Sundowns started Group B with a narrow 1-0 win over Al-Hilal at Loftus on Saturday and will be looking to make it two out of two in Cameroon.

“Credit needs to go to the club for setting that [the advance team] up. It is something that has been in place for a few years and I cannot take credit for it,” he said.

“Huge compliments to the club for always working a step above and having an advance team. It is something that is not so renowned within the African continent.

“A lot of work has been done, a lot of resources have been invested in it because it is time, money, effort and even intellectual property of the people to go and do analysis.

“There is incredible work this club is doing and a lot of credit needs to go to the leadership and culture that has been set over a number of years. That helps us to benefit from the resources  available to us.

“We have already sent an advance team there to try to put a bit more context to the logistics. Goolam and Khalid have done a fantastic job. The club is very experienced in that space.

“There are a lot of considerations for sure like routes and flights and we have ticked that box. The longer we stay [in a venue], there is the [need for the] availability of facilities and that box has been ticked.”

One of the most challenging trips for Sundowns in this group campaign is to Khartoum in March for the return leg against Al-Hilal.

“Scientifically, one of the biggest considerations is moving from high altitude to sea level in Khartoum. If you land at sea level and you try to stay a bit longer, you lose the advantage from a physiological perspective.

“We also don’t want to spend too much time there because of that but we also have to have some sort of adaptation because of the climate conditions, but we are experienced in that space and a lot of boxes have been ticked.”

Mokwena said Sundowns know what to expect from Coton Sport.

“There is an overview and a report I have already received for the scouts and analysts. They are a good team and reports show that. They wouldn’t be in the group stages of the Champions League if they were not.”

After their game in Cameroon, Sundowns travel to Egypt for their next game against the Red Devils at Al-Ahly Stadium on February 25.