University of Pretoria head coach Tlisane Motaung is proud of his side and says he cannot fault them for the way they played against Mamelodi Sundowns the “best team on the continent”.

AmaTuks were eliminated from the the competition after suffering a 4-3 defeat on penalties against Sundowns, who advanced to the Nedbank Cup semi-finals.

The game ended 1-0 after extra time when a 32nd minute goal by Delano Abrahams cancelled out Lucas Ribeiro Costa’s eighth minute goal at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Motaung is hoping his side can have the same energy and performance when they resume action in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, as they currently sit second place on the log, trailing log leaders Magesi FC by a point.

“I’m super happy for the lads, I thought they stuck in, they became very disciplined, they applied tactical things that we worked on, things that we thought Sundowns would bring,” Motaung told SuperSport TV after the game.

“Yes, in certain moments they broke the line, that’s why our goalkeeper is the Man of the Match, he saved us a couple of times. I mean you’re playing against one of the best teams on the continent.

“I’m proud of the lads, they fought. One can simply say congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns; all the best going forward and for us is now really to focus on the main business, which is to compete in the league.”

“Ja, look we didn’t start well. I thought our guys they were panicking a little bit. I needed them to scan a little bit, look at their shoulders, because you are playing against a team that runs off the shoulders you need to be clever in terms of that,” he added.

“So in my view we lacked that in the beginning but from there we rectified it and we began to really match them. Secondly, what we were doing wrong, Ronwen Williams is clever on the ball, so when you go and press him, there’s a defender that moves the midfielder joining in.

“So second-half we changed and said allow him when they have the ball, pick your man, let’s fight one for man and see how it goes. I’m super proud of the boys. We need to focus going forward, I hope they will display the same commitment into the few games of the league,” he concluded.

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