Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena says playing Seychelles outfit La Passe twice at home in the CAF Champions League doesn’t give them an upper hand. He outlined less travelling as the only advantage they have.
The Seychelles outfit will use Loftus Versfeld as their home ground in the first leg. Their stadium Stade Linite didn’t meet the CAF stadium standards.
Mokwena believes it is important to always respect an opponent irrespective of the venue. He expects La Passe to put up a fight adding that the team being in the CAF Champions League shows that they are a good side.
“Always tricky to play the same team twice. Even in the league of South African football, it’s never easy. Probably the only advantage is less travelling for us,” Mokwena told the media.
“From that perspective, we got a huge mental plus physical advantages. There is no accumulation of travelling fatigue or psychological fatigue in being in a foreign country.
“Apart from that, we still have to play 90 minutes with the same team attitude, very good mentality against a team that is well organized.
Mokwena further hailed La Passe’s attitude and organisation in their play.
“When I look at the organization of forms, look at how they play and the type of profile of players that they have. You can see there is a type of coaching that has been very good.
“It’s still a technical test, the back three, two central midfielders. Technically, we have a lot to do, and we have to apply ourselves to make sure we win the match proper,” Mokwena added.
Masandawana will be aiming to improve their performance in CAF Champions League after a disappointing campaign last season.
They were kicked out of the tournament by Angola outfit Petro Luanda in the quarter-finals.
Kickoff at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday is at 4pm. The return leg will be played on Friday, 14th October, at 6pm at the same venue.
