Mamelodi Sundowns will be eyeing for the quarterfinals when they welcome Motsepe Foundation Championship side, Maritzburg United, in the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 on Sunday evening at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Speaking ahead of the clash against the Team of Choice, the Downs coach expressed the readiness of his side and what it will take for his side to ensure they are a step closer to reclaiming the Nedbank Cup title.
“We are looking forward to facing Maritzburg United, it should be a very interesting one. They are a good team with PSL experience and they have very good players. They also have a very good coach who has very extensive experience in this competition and the PSL, so we will have to come well prepared in order to beat them,” coach Rulani stated.
“These games are very tough and the difficulty is everybody expects you to win, so the pressure is on you and you have to perform on the day and it’s not easy. You have to be prepared and ensure that mentally you are in the right space. The players have to get into the expectation of the right performance. If we can perform to that level, then we’ll be fine,” he continued.
The Masandawana tactician lauded the Premier Soccer League for televising NFD games, which has made it easier for them to collect the games and analyse their opponent. Coach Rulani also highlighted the difficulties of competing against NFD sides. He further stated that even though a side like Maritzburg United is a difficult opponent, he is upbeat that his outfit will come out victorious.
“Fortunately, we are now getting more coverage of the first division games and we have to give credit to the PSL. Maritzburg United’s latest game was televised. I also have to give a lot of credit to our technical team, specifically our analysis department. They have loaded most of Maritzburg’s games. We will spend a bit of time trying to prepare and see exactly how they set up. The difficulty also is that sometimes you prepare for a certain way of playing and then they come in the cup games and change completely, but we are confident,” he stated.
Mamelodi Sundowns will go head-to-head with Maritzburg United in the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 on Sunday evening at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 18H00.