Cape Town - Coach Rhulani Mokwena pointed out that half of Mamelodi Sundowns’ victorious team made their CAF Champions League debut against Coton Sport FC in Cameroon on Friday.
After an emphatic first-half performance, Sundowns signed off 3-1 winners, with the ever-improving Cassius Mailula scoring a classy brace. He has now scored three goals in two Champions League matches, and is far and away the hottest property in SA football.
It was hard to believe that at least six players in the run-on XI were Champions League debutants, but all proved they were not out of place.
“A lot of my players are playing for the first time in the Champions League,” said Mokwena.
“This is an important experience they are gaining, but we will get better. We managed to beat a physical side with a lot of technicalities.
“Mailula, Ronwen Williams, our captain Teboho Mokoena, Mothobi Mvala, Grant Kekana, Marcelo Allende and Khuliso Mudau were all playing for the first time in this tournament.
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“I thought in the first half we played according to instructions. Everything went according to plan, and we got three goals.
“Then Coton Sport reacted by bringing on Marie Mekong, and it was a good move because he added a little bit more intensity in their midfield.
“We struggled a little bit with their physicality, but we have to get better in this competition.
“The quality of the players came to the fore and I am very proud of their effort. Congratulations to the technical team, because this was a good haul of three points.”
Sundowns have back-to-back clashes against Egyptian giants Al Ahly coming up. Next week they play in Egypt, and a week later in Pretoria.
Mokwena shared his thoughts about his team’s targets in Friday’s post-match press conference.
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“It’s tough to say how we will fare because it is a very difficult group. I say it again: there are four good teams in this group,” Mokwena said.
“Sundowns being one of the very good teams in this group. We still have games to play. We must host Coton Sport in Pretoria.
“The focus is to get as close as possible to 10 points. We must get ourselves mathematically into a position where we can think of ourselves being in the quarter-finals.
“We will set another objective, which is to finish first, so that we move four points more towards the target. We will do that by respecting everybody and doing the best we can to continue to improve.”
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