Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi says that AmaZulu are a very dangerous team, and he’s expecting a tight game against Benni McCarthy’s charges.
The two sides meet at Kings Park Stadium today, with kick-off set for 17h30.
AmaZulu, who like Sundowns will compete in the group stages of the CAF Champions League next year, are currently sixth on the DStv Premiership table, 19 points behind leaders Sundowns.
McCarthy’s side have only lost twice in the league this season, and while they are unbeaten in their last ten games, 12 of their results have been draws.
Mngqithi says they need to respect their opponents, who have a team capable of causing problems if Sundowns are complacent.
“To be honest with you, I think AmaZulu are still a very dangerous team,” Mngqithi told the club’s media department.
“And any team in their position is wounded.
“They always want to climb, they can see the number of points from each other, it’s very, very close. So whoever wins, takes others down, so they would want to give it a fight.
“And they’ve got some quality players in (Luvuyo) Memela, (Lehlohonolo) Majoro, (Bongi) Ntuli, (Andre) De Jong, and (Thembela) Sikhakhane’s adventurous nature of going forward makes them to be a team to tick, with (Keagan) Buchanan strong on set pieces. You can never take them for granted. And they still have (Thapelo) Xoki on set pieces, either on direct set pieces or with his headers.
“So they are very, very capable team to cause an upset, but be that as it may, they also have to worry about what Sundowns offers on the day.
“We believe we’ve got a team that is capable of upsetting anyone. But we can never make a mistake of thinking we are just going to walk over any opposition because at this time of the season.
“It depends who is hungrier, who wants it more, and who is prepared to dig very deep in order to get what he wants, and make sure that he does not concede stupid goals and anxiety levels are controlled very well, to make sure that you hardly make mistakes that can be costly.
“So AmaZulu are going to give us a very, very serious match and we respect that, and we also have to play the match with the same respect and the same humility, and not think we are better than anyone else.”
Source: iDiskiTimes
