Mokwena raring to end Sundowns’ MTN8 curse

For all the success that Mamelodi Sundowns have enjoyed over recent years, claiming the league four seasons on the spin along with a couple of domestic titles and the 2016 Caf Champions League, the MTN8 has eluded the side for about almost a decade and a half, and this evening they have a chance to get their hands on the top-eight title when they play against Cape Town City in the final at Moses Mabhida.

Downs co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena says his team is not motivated by the fact they have not been able to win this trophy under the MTN banner, but it is their targets that inspire them.

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“You can’t win them all but we are given an opportunity to try again and it is for us to try and pitch with our A-game and play the match not the occasion,” said Mokwena.

“We are guided by the goals and ambitions of the club and not by the negativity of the fact that we have not won this trophy before. We look forward rather than backwards and we would love to deliver something that has eluded the club for many years.

“This is a very important game for us and we have to play it without any other connotations and we have to play the game with the right commitment, right attitude and mental state,” Mokwena added.

Sundowns are probably the favourites, given their form in the DStv Premiership where they have been solid at the back, but Mokwena understands that the stakes are different in this Wafa-Wafa contest.

There is no room for complacency and we don’t allow that to creep in and you can be guaranteed that we will play the final to win it. We want to dominate and not have a contest and that is the personality that we have adopted. We go into it with players who are on form and playing very well.

The final has come at a good time for us and we feel very confident going into a game against a team that is complete in terms of personnel, it should be very interesting,” said the Downs mentor.

Mokwena is confident that he and his co-head coach, Manqoba Mngqithi have done their due diligence in dissecting Eric Tinkler’s side, and in that, he knows that Downs cannot afford to undermine City.     

“We have our work cut out and we have to work hard. We know that City have got one of the best attacks in the league and they play on transition, I saw that in their game against Golden Arrows and they have the speed, and they have got the second best transitional data, second only to SuperSport United and what that means is that a lot of their counter attacks end up at shots at goal.”