Sundowns return to training ahead of Pirates clash

As the festive season is kicking in, defending DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns are wasting no time and are already sharpening their knives for the resumption of the league, which will kick-off on a high note against Orlando Pirates on New Year’s Eve.

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The Brazilians returned to training this week and Downs head coach Rulani Mokwena says the program is one which no one really has the map to navigate as it is the first time that competitive football is staged in the festive season. After playing the Buccaneers, Sundowns will host Swallows FC in the capital city.

“It is a space that we find ourselves in and we are very comfortable to find ourselves in because this is an abnormal season. The World Cup is playing until December so there is an extended break during the festive season but then again, there is a re-start during the festive season,” said Mokwena.

“We have to adapt slightly because no one has the right way of doing it because it is the first time we are doing it in South Africa. Our way of doing it is to try and not rely only on the knowledge and the experience of the conditioning and the medical department. All the coaches have given us advice on how to go about adapting and trying to create the best conditions for our players to rebuild the momentum,” he added.

While Sundowns’ coaches were on a trip to Qatar for the World Cup where they attended about 17 games in under a week, a number of players were left behind and keeping up their paces. Players like Bongani Zungu and Erwin Saavedra are among those who did not get much time off.

“It has been an extensive start to try and assess the level of the players. Fortunately we have a good group of professional players. We had a group that played a lot of games before the break, we had to rest them for two weeks,’ added Mokwena.

“There was a group that we had to give individualized programs under supervision so they were still coming to Chloorkop every single day. We had a group we had to look to introduce back to training.”