Johannesburg — Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United are both Tshwane giants, but such have been their fortunes of late, that they are worlds apart.
The Brazilians were crowned the kings of the land for the last five years, while the last time SuperSport won the crown was in 2010.
The two sides meet in the MT8 quarter-final today on opposite ends: Downs are blessed with depth, while SuperSport are sweating over replacements.
And guess what? Gavin Hunt’s headache over the unavailability of Thabang Sibanyoni, Grant Margeman and Ricardo Goss was caused by the Brazilians.
The trio are on loan from Sundowns, with the two sides having agreed that they’ll not play against their parent club during the loan period.
Hunt is troubled by this feat because Margeman and Sibanyoni were key in his team as they earned their first win against Richards Bay on Wednesday.
“Obviously we are going to be thinner because we can’t play three or four players. So that’s another problem,” Hunt said ahead of the tie at Tuks Stadium.
“But yeah, we’ve got a young and energetic squad. We understand the task at hand. But it is what it is. We can only put out the best of what we have.”
Hunt is no stranger to inflicting pain to Downs in the MTN8. It was his Bidvest Wits team that beat them in the 2016 Wafa Wafa Cup final in Nelspruit.
A lot has changed since then. Sundowns are now coached by Rulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi who replaced Pitso Mosimane.
The duo are establishing their blueprint in local football, having won two league titles and two domestic trophies, including the MTN8 last season.
Sundowns’ main target is the CAF Champions League crown, but there’ll be no sweeter feeling than kicking off the season with the MTN8 crown.
Mokwena knows that it will take time before they run like a well-oiled machine, especially with the arrival of new players at Chloorkop.
The new Brazilians include former SuperSport duo Ronwen Willliams and Sipho Mbule.
“We are relatively satisfied with where we are. We know we can do and play better. And we’ll do better, it’s just a matter of time,” Mokwena said.
“Reality is that we feel we are on the right track. The players just need a little bit of time and there are factors such as the new players who’ve just arrived.”
After today’s derby the two sides will meet again in the league on Friday in Atteridgeville
The two sides have had contrasting starts, with Sundowns second on the log with 10 points, while SuperSport are 14th with five after the fifth round.
IOL Sport