Pitso Mosimane is adamant Mamelodi Sundowns will advance to the knockout stage of the Caf Champions League despite dropping three points and moving a position down.
The Brazilians’ 1-0 loss to Wydad Casablanca at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca on Friday night and Horoya’s win over AS Togo-Port saw Sundowns drop to second place while the Guinea champions leapfrogged the Brazilians to sit in second place.
Bafana BaStyle are three points behind Horoya. The two sides will meet at Lucas Moripe Stadium on August 28 in a decider with a place in the quarterfinals along with Wydad up for grabs.
“We will win against Horoya,” Mosimane said in Casablanca. “We will win. We will meet again with Wydad, hopefully in the semifinals. I like to come here. Let’s see what will happen. But in South Africa we win.”
Horoya doesn’t need a win in Atteridgeville. A draw for the Guinea outfit will see them finish in second place. Sundowns have to take the initiative against a team that could park the bus.
“The chances to reach the knockout stage are 50/50,” Mosimane said. “All we have to do is win our last match at home. We win our last match, we qualify. We’re playing at home, when we are playing at home we are strong. Even here we were strong. We played Wydad in South Africa and we put them under pressure for most of the match. We dominated Wydad in South Africa, so we have to win at home. If you don’t win, you’re out.”
Mosimane had targeted at least a draw in Casablanca but the 2016 African champions conceded in the second half to be denied that point in what was a competitive duel between the last two teams to lift the Champions League.
“It was a good game of high quality,” Mosimane said. “First, congratulations to Wydad. They showed that they are a big team and they showed that they are the champions of Africa. I am happy with my team but I am not happy with the results. We didn’t sit back, we came here to win and we pressed from the first minute to force the goalkeeper to kick and make sure that Said doesn’t play. We achieved our objectives of making them play long balls. We dealt with the long balls properly. They are a good team. They are the champions. But we are also a good team. We came here to play.”
