Sundowns to take on Galaxy without seven Bafana stars

Mamelodi Sundowns will be without seven of their Bafana Bafana internationals for the club’s last 16 round of the Carling Knockout clash against TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday.

The fixture is penciled a day after Bafana’s friendly against next year’s Africa Cup of Nations hosts Côte d’Ivoire.

As a consequence of The Brazilians’ participation in the inaugural African Football League, their fixture against the Rockets was moved to an earlier date to accommodate their busy schedule.

Following the trip to Mpumalanga, Sundowns will head straight to Angola for an African Football League quarterfinal first leg encounter against Petro de Luanda.

Phakaaathi understands that plans have already been made for Ronwen Williams, Khuliso Mudau, Grant Kekana, Mothobi Mvala, Aubrey Modiba, Teboho Mokoena and Themba Zwane to join up with the rest of their Sundowns teammates in Angola straight from West Africa.

“That’s what we did last season, we had a squad of 36 players I think, and we played 35 players without any splits,” Sundowns coach Rulani Mokowena said about the depth of his team.

“We have to make sure that every player is prepared. We train not for the team but for the entire group. We try to make sure that all 36 players understand the demands, the style of play and the schemes.”

Angolan giants

If the DStv Premiership champions get past the Angolan giants over two legs, they will qualify for the semifinals of CAF’s lucrative eight-team competition. Their game against Moroka Swallows on October 29 might also have to be rescheduled as dates for the semis are lined-up for that weekend.

“We have to make sure that the recovery is very good in between games and that’s very important,” Mokwena concluded.

“We have set up a task team within our technical team to make sure that we work on that. It sounds a bit cliché but the reality is just to focus on one game at a time. Try to make sure that we win every game that we play and that every player is ready for that.”

A delay was caused by the PSL’s initial refusal to grant Masandawana permission to take part in the competition that will see the winner pocket a staggering $4 million which translates to over R76 million. The league had a change of heart during last week’s Board of Governors meeting that gave Sundowns the green light to partake in the tournament.

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