JOHANNESBURG - If there is a time for Mamelodi Sundowns to stamp their authority in the MTN8, it is now.
That is the belief of coach Manqoba Mngqithi who’s had to watch the Wafa Wafa cup slip through their fingers in the last seven years.
Sundowns have dominated domestic football for the last eight years, winning multiple trophies, including championships. The MTN8 is a low-hanging fruit with only four wins needed to walk away with the R8 million prize money. However, this first and most rewarding domestic trophy of the season has eluded them, their last triumph dating back to 2007.
ALSO READ: Mamelodi Sundowns won't stand in Gaston Sirino's way if the right offers come
That wasn’t because they didn’t care about it or embrace the ‘slow starters’ tag. Instead, there were contributing factors to their shortcomings, such as having a short pre-season as they had to quickly start with their continental football duties.
But with the CAF calendar amended last year, Sundowns have had their first full pre-season as a team. That has given Mngqithi, who won the MTN8 with Golden Arrows as the coach 11 years ago, a sense of belief that they can claim the trophy this term.
“In the seven years that I’ve been here, there are many scenarios that have been presented as to why we didn’t win this cup. One way or the other, it is one cup that we’ve struggled to win over the past seven years that I’ve been here,” the co-coach said.
ALSO READ: Stuart Baxter is keen to ’knock Mamelodi Sundowns off their perch’
“I don’t want to lie, even (former) coach Pitso (Mosimane) tried his best to win it. But after a very long time, the team has a proper pre-season this time around. And we are hoping we’ll be able to stamp our authority at the beginning of the season.”
Despite his sense of optimism, Mngqithi is not counting his proverbial chickens before they hatch. He knows that his team’s character will be tested from the outset when they face Kaizer Chiefs in the quarter-finals at home in Tshwane on Sunday.
ALSO READ: Beating Kaizer Chiefs will set the tone for the season, says Sundowns’ Denis Onyango
Unlike Sundowns, Chiefs are going through a rebuilding phase after enduring a six-year trophy drought and are coming from a yearlong transfer ban, despite reaching the final of the CAF Champions League a month ago.
To ensure that Amakhosi compete on all fronts, they’ve bolstered their squad with eight new faces, while coach Stuart Baxter returned for his second stint at the club. That’s why Mngqithi says Chiefs can rise from their slump to become a big club once again.
“It will be a very interesting game. But we know for a fact that his main (approach) will be on set pieces and throw-ins – and also on transition. On open play, building from the back and coming at us, he does have the players in the Chiefs team,” he said.
“So that makes it a little bit tricky even for him (Baxter) to make a decision as to ‘how do I want to play in this game: as an underdog or big team?’. Kaizer Chiefs is a big team. And from the signings they’ve made, you can see that they want to reclaim that position.”
@mihlalibaleka
IOL Sport