Sundowns Ladies out to avoid last season’s mistakes in Durban

It’s all about fixing last year’s mistakes for Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies at this year’s Cosafa Women’s Champions League qualifiers, says captain Zanele Nhlapo.

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The Brazilians Ladies are set to take on Olympic de Moroni of Comoros in their opening Group B fixture at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban on Thursday.

Sundowns Ladies were beaten beaten 6-5 on penalties after playing to a goalless draw in the final last year by Zambia’s Green Buffaloes, but Downs qualified for the Caf Women’s Champions League as defending champions.

At this year’s edition in Durban, Nhlapo says they have to make amends following last year’s disappointments.

“We are obviously preparing for the big one against a team from the Comoros. It’s not going to be an easy one, but I think the team is ready,” said the Sundowns Ladies skipper.

“Looking at our last game (in the Champions League) against AS Far we lost 4-0. But now we have switched on, and we came with the mentality that we want to win so that we can go back (to the Champions League) and rectify our mistakes. So, this is a good opportunity for us to rectify our mistakes. We went to the drawing board with the coaches and we know where we went wrong.  Now it’s the right time for us to win the Cosafa qualifiers.”

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Meanwhile, Sundowns Ladies assistant coach Agnes Nkosi is adamant that the team is ready for the Cosafa qualifiers.

“I saw that the girls are ready, even though the pitch we training on is not that good. But I believe in the girls and when they start their first game they will be ready,” said Nkosi.

“It’s obviously a must win tournament. Last year we didn’t do well, but this year I’m happy to see the energy of the girls because it shows that they want to win the tournament.”

After playing Moroni, Sundowns will battle it out with Young Buffaloes of Swaziland on 2 September and wrap the group phase with a tie against Mozambique outfit CD Costa do Sol two days later.