Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has opened up on the key element he believes will make a difference when they face Young Africans on Friday.
The two ambitious clubs are pencilled to lock horns in the CAF Champions quarter-final second leg at the Loftus Versfeld Stadim in Pretoria at 8pm.
Undoubtedly, this one is a blockbuster, which Sundowns cannot afford to lose as they aim for the prestigious CAF title.
The usually marauding Masandawana were kept at bay by Young Africans in the first-leg played last week. It ended in a 0-0 stalemate at the Benjamin Mkapa stadium in Tanzania.
This time around, Sundowns’ Rulani Mokwena is confident of a win though he is taking a cautious approach. Mokwena believes his men’s 2023 AFCON experience is going to be the difference between them and Yanga.
WHAT MOKWENA SAID ABOUT HIS PLAYERS’ AFCON EXPERIENCE
Eleven Sundowns players were at the biggest continental tournament, AFCON, helping Bafana win the bronze medal.
These include Themba Zwane, Teboho Mokoena and Ronwen Williams among others. Striker Peter Shalulile captained Namibia at the tournament.
“The players kind of get motivation to play these kind of games for the Yellow Nation, for our supporters. We play for them. We try to invest hours of work so that the team is ready,” said Mokwena.
“I think the players understand the mandate, the experience is there. The quality is there and also one of the experiences we don’t mention is the AFCON experience. That experience comes in very handy and for sure, the players will dig into that and produce something very similar.
The African Football League champions’ desperation for Champions League glory is in its eighth unsuccessful season.
But after his men inspired Bafana Bafana, Mokwena expects to see them make a difference at this crucial stage. How the two will perform remains to be seen but the winner will be decided in what promises to be a mouth-watering fixture.
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