Sundowns put the heat on Al-Ahly ahead of AFL semifinal

It goes without saying that Mamelodi Sundowns are expecting a hostile reception as they confront Al-Ahly in their own backyard in the semi-final of the African Football League(AFL).

The Egyptian powerhouse will be backed by their passionate fans looking to reverse the 1-0 scoreline from the first leg in Tshwane with a place in the final of the inaugural eight-team competition at stake.

The Red Devils faithful who are known to use every trick in the book to create an intimidating atmosphere for their opponents at Cairo International Stadium. Expect to hear explosive sounds of firecrackers and lasers to come from the crowd in a bid to discract Sundowns.

The Brazilians recorded a credible 2-2 draw against Ahly on their last visit to Egypt during the group stages of the CAF champions league.

Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena is adamant their opponents will be more worried about what’s going to happen on the field of play, with his team 90 minutes away from contesting the final of the AFL.

“We’ve got a goal in Cairo and they (Al-Ahly) know that and it stresses them a lot,” said a confident Mokwena.

“The message they have is that they know Sundowns can score in Cairo. The first thing they’ve got to think about is that Sundowns must not score an away goal.

“So let’s see what happens, it’s only half-time. It’s going to be an interesting game but as I’ve said, I think they know that Sundowns have a goal in Cairo if not two.”

Seeing the positives

Mokwena is missing the injured pair of striker Peter Shalulile and the versatile Thapelo Morena who were both on the scoresheet the last time the two rivals clash in Egypt.

“I’d like to be an optimist in that perspective of the chances that we created and say to you that I would have rather taken one,” Mokwena said after the narrow 1-0 win over Ahly at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.

“A 0-0 and 1-0 (scoreline) is completely different. So to take one chance out of the many that we created is a positive for me. A bigger positive is that we are creating the chances even though we have none of our strikers and regular offensive players available.”