Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi is confident his side can bounce back in their Caf Champions League quarter-final second leg against Al Ahly on Saturday.
The Brazilians suffered a 2-0 defeat by Pitso Mosimane’s side in the first leg in Cairo through goals from Taher Mohamed Taher and Salah Mohsen.
Sundowns will now have it all to play for in the second leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium if they hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the continental competition.
The Sundowns coach‚ however‚ believes the return leg will be a different ball game altogether, promising Mosimane’s team may well get a good hiding from the Brazilians if they don’t up their game.
The Sundowns mentor feels that his side were unlucky not to find the back of the net against Ahly as they produced countless chance sthroughout the game but did not make the most of it in the final third.
‘Like I expected‚ it was always going to be a tactical game and I believe we played very well and we were very unfortunate not to score‚’ Mngqithi told media.
‘I’ve never seen a team come to Egypt and dominate Al Ahly in possession. And to see Al Ahly playing a counter-attacking game at home was very interesting for me.
‘But this one [Saturday’s game] is a first half‚ the second one is in Pretoria.
‘We started the game very well‚ kept the ball well‚ played very good in half spaces and forced them to be on their back foot‚ but unfortunately we got chances we [ended up] not taking.
‘We hit the upright first and also missed another header after a corner kick.
‘I think we had a very good second half‚ but surprisingly when we played even better in the second half we didn’t create as many chances as we did in the first half.
‘[Mohamed] El-Shenawy [Ahly keeper] also saved them from a very good corner kick which we could have easily converted. If we had scored that goal it would have really opened the game up a little bit.’
Mngqithi added that they cannot take the Red Devils lightly heading into the second leg as he believes Mosimane has a wealth of talent within his squad.
‘I still have respect for Al Ahly and I think they’ve got a lot of young and intelligent players‚’ he said.
‘[Mohamed] Sherif is very instrumental on top [of the attack] and Afsha I think also showed a lot quality in the half spaces. And I think Mohamed [Taher] was very clinical in his finish. I think that was a well-taken goal in the first half.
‘But I still believe we were a better team football-wise‚ but we lost the match.’
