The stage has been set for a mouthwatering clash in the MTN8 second leg of the semifinal, and Mamelodi Sundowns will be hosting Orlando Pirates on Saturday afternoon in a sold-out affair at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The two sides last met in the first leg last weekend, and the game concluded with a goal apiece. Teboho Mokoena’s headed effort opened the scoring for Downs in the opening stanza, but in the final minutes of the match, the Buccaneers levelled matters.
The second leg will be the 15th meeting between the two sides in the cup competition, and in order to determine the side that will head to the final round, one side will have to emerge victorious. Of course, the Pretoria-based side would like to make that dream a reality, one they last experienced in the 2023/24 season.
Looking ahead to the highly anticipated clash between the north and the south of Gauteng, coach Miguel Cardoso
“Two-legged matches in knockout competitions are always very tough. Obviously, people might say we have an advantage because we were able to score a goal away from home, but how I really see it is this match will determine who wins by how they played inside the four lines,” he said.
“The first leg was extremely demanding, and I don’t expect the second leg to be any different. I hope in this second half, we can increase our level of intensity and the quality of our football,” the coach added.
With their schedule already piled up so early into the season, the coach lauded his side on how they have remained focused. He also believes this – the focus as well as the camaraderie – will help them show better character inside the pitch.
“The focus is too strong. We have become better at preparing for every match, and the time is too short, so the levels of concentration must be so high that we mustn’t react to what is wrong. It’s always the philosophy that when one falls, then two should rise. That’s how we develop character. That’s how we show character, and I think that’s how the story of Mamelodi Sundowns has been written by strong character.” Cardoso added
Mamelodi Sundowns will do battle with Orlando Pirates in a highly anticipated MTN8semifinal second leg encounter on Saturday afternoon at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. Kick-off has been scheduled for 15H00, live on SuperSport TV and SABC Sport.
Hayi there is no coach here, yi plumber this one, bring back our Pitso or Badela or anyone who knows the way sundowns play.
Manqoba can still do better than this coach, hayi suka…Flemingberg must leave with this coach, ayikho lento so manu cups nothing achieved, let us learn to respect our own, there is nothing special about these foreigners, they went to the word cup to enjoy fruits of other coach’s hardwork, they failed but we still keep them, if they are good ,let them win cups and the league like Pitso used to.
I do not enjoy this ping pong football of Cardoso, often players lose the ball cheaply, Sundowns is slowly losing its football and dignity, since Cardoso came we have been playing bad football, hayikhona asiyo le, we need Pitso to come rebuild this team while winning at the same time.If Pitso doea not want us ,we can also ask Steve Barker ,I think he can also make us play good football and still win us cups like Pitso used to.Things started to go bad at Sundowns when Flemingberg was appointed, what has he achieved other than firing Rulani and Manqoba.
Stupid coach, he must go