Sundowns in right frame for the Champions League, says Mngqithi

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi likes the fact that several of his crucial players haven’t played a lot of games as the start to their Caf Champions League group stage campaign looms large.

Several instrumental Sundowns players such as Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau and Mothobi Mvala missed many games this season for different reasons. Williams and Mvala struggled with injuries at the start of the season, while Mokoena and Mudau were frozen out a few weeks ago as they apparently battled to see eye-to-eye with new head coach Mngqithi.

Iqraam Rayners scored twice, with Mudau and Peter Shalulile also on the score sheet, as Sundowns thumped 10-man Chiefs 4-0 in the Carling Knockout quarterfinals at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Amakhosi's Inacio Miguel was sent off in the 54th minute.

Downs had scored three unanswered goals against Cape Town City in the league three days earlier.

Mngqithi feels his team are “peaking at the right time” and he’s happy they will start the Champions League group stages with a number of his important stars fresh, after having been used sparingly. 

“We wanted to peak around this time. We didn’t want to arrive at this time with most of the players having a lot of games at their back. We are excited most of the players had been protected a lot and they don’t have much of a load on their legs,” Mngqithi said.

“We are hoping we will be able to sustain the football actions, which is why I was demanding a bit more consistency from how we approach the game after we scored the first two goals because I saw we were going back to being sluggish and we were playing to kill time.”

Sundowns will start their Champions League pool phase journey by travelling to DR Congo to face Maniema United on November 26. The Brazilians’ other opponents in Group B are Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca and AS Far.

Mngqithi was not overly pleased with scoring only four goals against Chiefs, feeling his team should have netted more.

Sundowns host Polokwane City in the league on Wednesday.

“I think our game plan on the day was good. I’d like to thank my fellow coaches, my analysts and everybody surrounding the team,” he said.

“It was a good plan, it came out the right way. The only thing I feel uncomfortable about is I think we could’ve scored a lot of goals.”

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