Kekana wants Downs to replicate AFL triumph in the Champions League

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Grant Kekana is hoping their recent African Football League triumph can translate into the CAF Champions League.

The 2016 Champions League winners will begin with their group stage campaign against Mauritanian side FC Nouadhibou at home on Sunday.

The fixture comes two weeks after Sundowns beat Moroccan side Wydad AC to win the inaugural African Football League.

GRANT KEKANA HOPING THE AFRICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE TRIUMPH WILL SERVE AS MOTIVATION

Kekana says the recent achievement could be the start of something bigger for the DStv Premiership record champions.

“[Winning the AFL] will give us a great sense of confidence going into the Champions League,” he said.

“We all know what happened last season and the AFL proved that we can do it against the big guns and we became victorious in the AFL. So we want to continue with that winning momentum and that mentality because the AFL was just the start of something even bigger.

“We hope that this season the Champions League will be brought home,” he said.

This is the third CAF Champions League appearance for FC Nouadhibou who were eliminated in the preliminary stages on both occasions [in 2003 and 2014]. The 31-year-old has warned against taking the Mauritanian Premier League 11-time champions for granted.

“We know that it’s going to be a difficult journey. It’s going to be a journey that we need to be well prepared for.

“One where we don’t take anything for granted or anything for granted. There are a lot of surprises from the teams that are unknown on the continent such as FC Nouadhibou. So we don’t want to take them for granted or take any team likely.”

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS EXPECTING A TOUGH CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ENCOUNTER

“They can expect a very good game. I think we all know what the Champions League is like, very competitive and tough. This is also a tough team, we know that they have a few players in the Mauritania national team. So we expect the quality to be very high.

“We expect it to be physically just like most African teams. But it should be a good game, one that we are prepared for and one that we will certainly be ready for. 

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