Mokwena says Sundowns are ‘football romantics’

The narrow 1-0 victory over Pyramids FC in the Caf Champions League was not one of Mamelodi Sundowns‘ most memorable performances this season but their coach Rulani Mokwena has commended his team for grinding out the result in Cairo.

READ MORE: Sundowns back on track in Champs League after win over Pyramids

The Brazilians are known for their ‘shoe shine and piano’ playing style, which is a free flowing possession-based football with a lot of slick movements.

The current Sundowns team have that and more. The DStv Premiership champions have matured into a unit and are able to dig in their heels to get a result.

Perhaps, winning the African Football League has taught them to be more resolute when they don’t have the ball against other big hitters on the continent.

“We are football romantics and we love football but we also understand it,” Mokwena responded when asked by the Egyptian media if he has ditched his ideology of playing beautiful football.

“In a game of football, you have to answer the questions that the game asks of you. If the game asks you to counter attack, you have to do that. If the game asks you to absorb pressure and suffer, you have to do that but we don’t play to do that but we are able to adapt. 

“Again, for the majority of the game, we had moments where we dominated possession and that’s not easy in a Champions League game. This is the modern game nowadays if you look at the best teams in the world. What makes Manchester City so difficult to beat is because they work very hard when they don’t have the ball.”

Group A is turning out to be more competitive than most football followers first expected. Sundowns are second behind Mazembe but they remain on course to reach the knockout stage when the competition resumes in February next year.

“The win is a good step but not a big enough because it’s only three points difference between us and the other two teams and Pyramids are still in it,” Mokwena said after the match where Teboho Mokoena scored the only goal of the match.

ALSO READ: African giants Wydad in trouble after loss to Simba

“We still had a little bit more possession and it’s difficult playing against a good team with very good players. We had to suffer in some of the moments. The good thing is that we suffered together and we showed that we can adapt to conditions. It was necessary for us to suffer and work without the ball. We didn’t give a lot of chances.”