Mngqithi tips Domingo to shine at Sundowns this season

Manqoba Mngqithi believes that Mamelodi Sundowns supporters are likely to see more of Haashim Domingo this season, saying he has seen leaps of improvement from the 26-year-old in pre-season.

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Domingo played 73 minutes of the MTN8 quarterfinal against Kaizer Chiefs, which Sundowns won it 2-1 on penalties.

Domingo was used quite rarely in his maiden season at Masandawana last season as he made just 15 appearances, most of which he came off the bench.  

“He had a very good pre-season, in all of the matches that we played in pre-season, he played exceptionally well. Sphelele Mkhulise had moments where he was injured and he was out and that gave Haashim a bit of a run in pre-season and if he continues the way he is, there is no chance that we can drop him,” said Mngqithi.

Part of the reason why the former Bidvest Wits star did not feature much last season was because he was still adapting to Downs’ style of play and was suffering some anxiety issues around his game.  

“I still believe that there is still far more that we can get from him, he just has to stay more focus and kill the anxiety because he is quick to get into the mode of fouls but if he can just calm down a little bit, even when we counter press, we still have to play hard and fair and I think those moments are a catch-22 for him because he is very good on counter attacks but at times I feel he goes for a foul even when there is an opportunity to win the ball and imitate another attack immediately,” Mngqithi elaborates.

The Downs mentor added: “From the game that he played against Bloemfontein Celtic last season, you could see that the signs were showing that he is calming down. He is a very good football player, make no mistake but he plays with a lot of anxiety and he does not want to fail. In football you need to be a little bit controlled in terms of the anxiety and your emotional space and we believe that he is getting it right at this stage.”