Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says his side are mentally ready for Maritzburg United when the two sides meet in the Nedbank Cup.
The Brazilians are set to welcome the Team of Choice to the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium when they square off on Sunday.
Sundowns made their way to this stage of the competition after demolishing NB La Masia 6-1 at the Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday, February 20.
Maritzburg defeated Paarl United 3-0 in their clash at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban.
Mokwena is expecting a “very tough and difficult” showing against the Team of Choice in Pretoria.
“These games are very tough and the difficulty is that everybody expects you to win so the pressure is on you and you have to perform on the day,” Mokwena told Sundowns TV.
“It’s not easy here, you’ve got to prepare mentally, you’ve got to be in the right space and the players have to get into the expectation of the right performance level and if we can performance to that level I’m sure we’ll be fine.
“Good team, Maritzburg (United), good coach and very good players who have PSL experience and you know the club is a club that knows the runnings of the league but a history of doing well in club competitions, so we’ve got to make sure that we are ready mentally more than anything else.
“𝙒𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.”
Coach Rulani speaks ahead of the crucial #NedbankCup last 16 clash in Pretoria! 📺
Press conference available now on YouTube⬇
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) March 14, 2024
Photo by Nokwanda Zondi/BackpagePix
