Mamelodi Sundowns attacking midfielder Neo Maema has addressed his side’s recent struggles in domestic cup competitions with Orlando Pirates dominating that scene.
Despite their supremacy in the league, the Brazilians have fallen short in cup competitions in the past two seasons. They last hoisted one in 2022 when they defeated Marumo Gallants in the Nedbank Cup final.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers have won five of the last six cup tournaments with Stellenbosch FC claiming one.
Masandawana advanced to the finals of both the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup last season but lost to Jose Riveiro’s troops.
This season, they were eliminated from the MTN8 in the semifinals by rampant Stellenbosch FC, who triumphed over them in both legs.
Speaking during the Carling Knockout Cup launch on Tuesday, Maema admitted that lack of success in domestic cups has been a concern for him and the team.
However, he insisted there’s no underlying issue within the team, attributing their setbacks to unfortunate circumstances that can occur to any football team.
NEO MAEMA ADMITS WORRY ABOUT SUNDOWNS’ STRUGGLES IN CUP COMPETITIONS
“It’s obviously [bothering us], I’ll start by saying me personally, I don’t like it and as a team,” said Maema.
“It bothers us because we are very consistent when it comes to games. We try our best to win every single game.
“And when it comes to cup competitions, we just fall short which is something that happens in football.
“But we also want to win domestic cups, we don’t want that to linger in the back of our minds that cup competitions, we are unable [to win them] or we just can’t.”
When asked further what’s missing in their game, he responded, “I don’t think there’s anything missing at Mamelodi Sundowns.”
“We have the players, we have the technical team, we have the board, the management that support us so much.
“It’s just for us to make sure that we try our best as players, to go to the field, starting with Golden Arrows making sure that we taking one game at a time.
“And because it’s a competition, make sure that we don’t run out of legs since it’s the beginning of the season when it comes to the number of games that we are playing.
“So as we’re starting now, we make sure that we keep the games as 90 as possible, obviously anything happens in football but make sure that we wrap everything up in 90 minutes.”
