It is starting to come together at last for Mamelodi Sundowns.
After failing to defend their Absa Premiership title and sacking one of the country’s top coaches in Gordon Igesund earlier this season, the Brazilians have finally turned the corner under caretaker coach Trott Moloto, who replaced Igesund.
Moloto and his merry men leave for Sudan on Thursday to play Sudanese champions Al-Hilal in the first leg of their African Champions League third-round clash on Saturday night.
Moloto had reason to be confident on the eve of their tough away trip after his side scored a convincing 3-1 Premiership win over Pretoria rivals SuperSport United in an entertaining league derby played at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Tuesday night. The win propelled the Brazilians into fifth spot on the table and a place in next season’s new Top Eight Cup.
Downs led 1-0 at half-time. Industrious midfielder Brent Carelse scored a goal in each half. Super substitute Peter Ndlovu made the game safe with a well-struck goal after United’s Pa Gaxa had reduced the deficit in the 85th minute with a superb strike.
Add the fact Downs meet AmaZulu in the Nedbank Cup semifinals early next month, and no wonder former Bafana Bafana coach Moloto is smiling.
But he warned he would not allow Downs to play their open expansive brand of soccer in Sudan.
Said Moloto: ”It will be a whole new ball game. I have a totally different plan for Al-Hilal. We know for a fact we will be up against it.
”The crowd, the conditions and possibly the referee will be against us, who knows. But my experience of these type of away matches is we have to plan carefully and prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
Orlando Pirates, the only side in Southern Africa to have won the coveted continental trophy — Bucs won the then-African Champions Cup in 1995 against the odds — scored a hard-fought 3-3 draw in Sudan against Al-Hilal to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2006.
Said Moloto: ”We are going into Sudan in a positive frame of mind. We won’t be negative but at the same time we will give nothing away. I would be happy to come home with a draw.
”We are in the running to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the final of the Nedbank Cup and are now in a better position to reach the top eight. But we are not there yet, there is still a long way to go.”
Moloto was delighted with the way his side defeated top-of-the-table United. ”That was a fantastic performance. Just the tonic we needed before going into a tough away Champions League game. This win has boosted morale and lifted the spirits in the camp,” he said.
Moloto is too experienced a coach to count his chickens as regards a place in the top eight next season.
He said: ”The race for the top eight is tight, but we have given ourselves a great chance to succeed. Beating the side on top of the league was a great achievement and augers well. But we still have to collect as many points as possible from our remaining matches. We cannot sit back and relax.”
United coach Gavin Hunt admitted his side did not play well, especially his shaky defence.
But Hunt was not down. He said: ”We were poor but there are still a lot of twists and turns before the season ends. We are still in the race and still on top of the league. We still have four games to go and everything still to play for.” — Sapa