Yanga away was ‘always going to be tough’: Mokwena as Sundowns plot home win

Mamelodi Sundowns were not at their best, and some of the match conditions contributed to that, but the 0-0 first leg result sets the Brazilians up for a victory in their Caf Champions League quarterfinal tie against Young Africans, coach Rulani Mokwena said.

Dar-es-Salaam's 60,000-seat Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, packed as it was on Saturday night, is one of the more notoriously hostile venues to play at in the Champions League.

Sundowns also had their seven-player Bafana Bafana contingent away on international duty in the friendlies against Andorra (1-1 on Thursday) and 3-3 draw against Algeria on Tuesday night, who joined the rest of the squad in Tanzania by private jet midweek.

Downs also lost Bongani Zungu to injury soon after kickoff, substituted by Aubrey Modiba in the 13th minute.

These factors, plus a tricky pitch, combined to contribute to an already a tough away leg against a Young Africans, commonly referred to as Yanga, whose progression on Africa’s interclub stage culminated in being Caf Confederation Cup runners-up last year.

“It’s tough. I said it before in the [prematch] press conference and it played out exactly the way we had spoken about it,” Mokwena said.

“Good team, well coached [by former Platinum Stars and Sundowns coach Miguel Gamondi] and they are always going to be tough. I think we can be better but we were all right.

“Under the conditions — the pitch, the humidity, also playing at an odd time [9pm in Dar-es-Salaam], also not having all our players to prepare for the game — all right, it is what it is and now we’ve got to look and see how best we can prepare for the second leg.”

Mokwena felt Sundowns could not establish a decent rhythm in many aspects of the game.

“We lacked a bit of compactness and couldn’t really get our foot on the ball and play with a bit more control and dominate the game. We lost too many duels, we lost too many second balls.

“We had to address that at halftime. We looked a bit better in the second half where I think we played with a bit more intensity and tried to go forward.

“But we played against a good team. We knew it was going to be difficult and regardless of what the scoreline would be we were going have to win in Pretoria, and it remains the same.”

Mokwena was asked if he would attribute the result to Yanga’s approach or Sundowns failing to find what they needed in the game to get a victory.

“I think a bit of both. They’re a good side. I thought we defended well for most parts of the game.

“And to keep an attack [at bay] with [Kennedy] Musonda, [Clement] Mzize, Stephane [Aziz Ki] and Maxi [Nzengeli] and not give them too many chances is good.

“But we could have done more to create more chances and the final pass didn’t come. But OK, let’s see how we go and try to improve in the second leg...

“I still have to speak to the players about my feeling, and I normally reserve that for the players first before I speak to the media.

“But of course we can play better, use the ball better. Even if we had won I would still say to you it’s only halftime and we have to play better in the second leg.”

The second leg is at Loftus Versfeld on Friday (8pm). Before that, Sundowns meet Richards Bay FC in their DStv Premiership match at Loftus on Tuesday (7.30pm).