Alexandria – Khama Billiat is glad that he stayed at Mamelodi Sundowns now that he is an African champion. The Zimbabwean forward caught the eyes of European scouts along with Egyptian giants Al-Ahly and Zamalek who were prepared to pay big bucks for him during the transfer window.
But he chose to stay with the Brazilians because they had just been reinstated into the group stage of the CAF Champions League. He wanted to finish that journey he had already started. That decision paid off richly on Sunday when Sundowns became African champions at the expense of one of those clubs – Zamalek.
“It’s great feeling to be an African champion,” Billiat said. “I think that I played my cards right by staying here. I am glad that I stayed. But I don’t know what will happen in the future. You never know what will happen in football. You just need to play your best football because you never know when an opportunity will come.”
Sundowns don’t have much time to celebrate their milestone because after they arrive back in the country from Egypt tomorrow, they start their Telkom Knockout defence at Lucas Moripe Stadium against Polokwane City the following day. Three days after that, they will resume their Absa Premiership defence on Sunday by hosting Cape Town City. Sundowns' league campaign took a pause after just one match. The PSL had no choice but to postpone their league games beause they clashed with their Champions League run.
“We will do our best to defend our cups, although we will play more games than anyone,” Billiat said. “We trust our coaches and the technical staff. They know how to help us rest and recover, to get the body better as quickly as possible. We have done it before. If we weren’t able to balance the two we wouldn’t have won the Champions League because we played crucial league games in between the Champions League. We won both. The important thing is that we rest”
Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane and the club’s fitness trainer Kabelo Rangoaga preach giving the players plenty of rest. Mosimane boasts that there is no team that rests as much as them, arguing that this will help them avoid burnout towards the end of the season. Sundowns will travel to Japan next month for the Fifa Club World Cup which will further mess up their domestic schedule. This period until December and the final stretch in May will test Sundowns’ depth and medical team.
“Our coach has an eye for talent, that’s why he is able to put players together," Billiat said. "It’s not easy to put good players together and have things work out. You find that you don’t get what you want because there is arrogance in the team and this one believes that me I am bigger than this one. The coach knows how to manage that which is why he can get the best out of this collective of good players. These next months will test us.”
Independent Media