On the face of it both Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs have a mighty tough task on their hands as they attempt to emulate Orlando Pirates by becoming African kings.
The South African giants have to overcome multiple continental champions in the form of TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Morocco’s Raja Casablanca in Caf Champions League first round clashes, whose first leg matches both host tonight.
Scale these hurdles and the dream to add that coveted star onto their jerseys could well become a reality, victories over these two sure to earn the Brazilians and Amakhosi respect from future opposition. But can they succeed? Can Pitso Mosimane’s high-flying Sundowns who tore Polokwane City apart on Wednesday do the same to the “all powerful” – TP, is an acronym for Tout Puissant which means all powerful – Mazembe?
What chance do Chiefs have of lifting themselves from their shock 1-0 defeat at lowly Maritzburg United to send the Green Devils back to Casablanca with tails between their legs?
If anything, Sundowns fans can rest assured Mosimane will have a great plan to see his team get the better of a Mazembe side that have been African champions on four occasions. Since capturing the domestic league back in May, Mosimane has been preparing for the Champions League. At his house, two DStv Explorers are teeming with recordings of the continental tournament’s matches from the past season and he would have watched the ones involving Mazembe over and over to know just about everything there is to know about the Ravens.
When they walk on to the Loftus Versfeld pitch tonight, Teko Modise and Co will be aware of their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and it will be up to them to exploit them.
They will also know that Sundowns beat Mazembe before, 1-0 at home during a group match in 1997. The fact that the revered Congolese side also came unstuck against Pirates two years ago will not be lost on the master planner that is Mosimane, who is sure to have picked up useful lessons from that heroic showing by the Buccaneers.
In the end, it will be left to the players to do the job. And based on the way they tore City apart, Sundowns might just have Mazembe’s beating. But the Congolese are going to be a much better disciplined outfit defensively.
Chiefs, on the other hand, have a scoring woe to contend with as they take on Raja. Having failed to breach both the Pirates and Maritzburg defence in the past week, coach Stuart Baxter should be scratching his head as he looks to find a way to get his team firing again.
North African teams are generally renowned for their defensive prowess and Raja will be no different.
Admittedly, the departure of Kingston Nkhatha has left Chiefs bereft of a point of focus in their play – the Zimbabwean having been the centre of all Amakhosi’s attacks, his ball-holding abilities ensuring that the team’s midfielders were able to come from deep to score goals. That is no longer the case and neither Siphelele Mthembu nor Matthew Rusike have shown themselves capable of being Chiefs’ new source of goals while Bernard Parker continues to be the “half a season player” he has always been.
Both sides know they need to make full use of their homeground advantage as the second leg will be mighty tough in hostile conditions. - Saturday Star