AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane has warned fatigue will catch up with Mamelodi Sundowns because players did not have enough rest due to the Fifa Club World Cup.
After they won the league last season, Sundowns players had a few weeks' break before they travelled to the US to play high-intensity matches against Ulsan HD of Korea, German side Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense FC of Brazil at the Club World Cup.
When they returned from the US they rested for a few weeks before reporting for work to start two weeks of preparations in Rustenburg, which is unusual because preseason usually takes six weeks.
The new season has started and they have already played three matches in 10 days and they have a high-profile MTN8 semifinal first leg against Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Zwane said coach Miguel Cardoso’s players are going to suffer burnout during the season, which includes the Champions League.
“It is going to be a tough season for Sundowns because they played in the Fifa Club World Cup and at some point players will get tired,” said the AmaZulu coach.
“I am talking from a players’ perspective because I played and I know. If you play football for four years at the same pace and high demands and travelling, it is difficult.”
One of the three matches they have played so far included a trip to Gqeberha and Zwane said they travelled a lot last season, especially in the Champions League.
“It is not like in Europe where most trips are two or three hours. For Sundowns, I know they charter flights, but the disadvantage in Africa is sometimes you travel for seven to eight hours.
“We must capitalise on that, but they are a top team. They are good for South African football and we have to gauge ourselves using them and to get closer.”
Cardoso said he is going to manage his players by rotating them.
“You know our preseason was two weeks, we joined and started playing and we had to do it that way. We know players are still growing on their conditioning and it is important to manage that.
“We know we have to manage players every match until we feel they are in condition to play every three days. We played 72 hours ago and we had to travel from the Eastern Cape.
“When you are at the beginning of the season it takes longer to recover fully, so we are trying to respect the conditioning of the players,” said Cardoso.
Sundowns have dominated the local scene for years and Zwane pointed out other clubs must be smart if they want to compete with them.
“We have to be smart if we are to compete with Sundowns by capitalising, because they are going to play in the Champions League, some of the players are going to play for their national teams and there are going to be injuries.
“In this match we showed we can compete with less quality, especially in the first half. In the second it was a case of consistency.
“Since I have been with AmaZulu we have played three games against Sundowns and we always lose in the same way. Last season we conceded a goal during referee’s optional time in the first round.
“In the second round we conceded two goals in a more or less the same situation. For our players, as long as they play and grow, they will get to the level of Sundowns.”
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