JOHANNESBURG - WHILE Mamelodi Sundowns will certainly be the favourites to down Golden Arrows when the two team’s meet in their MTN8 semi-final second leg clash at the Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe Stadium this afternoon, co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has warned his troops against complacency.
The two team’s played out to a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium last month. Not only do Sundowns have a better team on paper, but they will also have home ground advantage.
“We are playing an organised team that scores goals and has attacking players in form. Knox Mutizwa is scoring goals and Nduduzo Sibiya is showing his magic.
“He is the one player who can give Arrows so much. Sometimes he does not work hard but he is currently on fire,” said Mngqithi.
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The Brazilians will also be full of confidence given that they enter the game on the back of three successive league wins with two of the wins coming against Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, both of whom were well beaten.
“With their (Arrows’) transitions, they can be very dangerous and can destabilise your flow of the game with their counter-pressing. We believe we have a team capable of playing this match and going through. Everything favours us,” added Mngqithi.
By contrast, Arrows have so far not been able to emulate their impressive form from last season under coach Lehlohonolo Seema. Abafana Bes’thende enter the game on the back of five games without a win in all competitions. The last time the Durban-based club won a game was when they beat KwaZulu-Natal rivals Maritzburg United 2-1 last month.
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Seema is confident that his side can spring a surprise against arguably South Africa’s best team.
“Our players are already motivated because they know that if we are to get to the final, we have to win the game against Sundowns which nobody expects us to do. We have to make sure that we apply ourselves in a good way and in a structured way so that we can see how far we can go. Everybody is motivated in the camp and we have forgotten about our draw against Sekhukhune United,” said Seema.
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