Johannesburg - Hlompho Kekana could not hide his disappointment when he looked back at how Mamelodi Sundowns missed out on a chance to reach the semi-final of the Fifa Club World Cup.
The realisation that they should have beaten Kashima Antlers after they dominated them in the first half on Sunday, only for the Japanese champions to teach Sundowns a lesson about taking your chances in the second half, left the Brazilians skipper pondering what couild have been.
That has made Kekana, pictured, eager to prove to the world that the African champions have what it takes to compete at this level.
Sundowns will try to prove that tomorrow against Asian champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the fifth-place play-off. If Sundowns were clinical against Antlers, they would be taking on South American champions Atletico Nacional in the semi-final instead, in the second match at Suita City Football Stadium. But now they’re just the curtain raiser to the real spectacle.
That should motivate them to not only beat the South Korean side but also retain the CAF Champions League next year so that they can go do better in the next edition of the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
“As much as we are disappointed by the loss to the Japanese club, we took a lot of positives from that match,” Kekana said. “This is another level of football. You must take your chances. You need to be ruthless in front of goals at this level. If I look back at how we played, I am not unhappy with the performance. I am just unhappy that we didn’t score.
"The Japanese would agree with me when I say that we were the better team, we played them off the park. But that doesn’t count. What counts is who put the ball at the back of the net.”
Sundowns didn’t do that in their 2-0 loss. At the top of their to-do list tomorrow will be to score, so that they can at least return with something to show for their time in Japan. Last year’s African representatives, TP Mazembe - who are the first club from the continent to reach the final of this competition, were also knocked out in the quarter-finals by a Japanese club.
Mazembe lost in the fifth-place play-off, going down to then Concacaf champions Club America from Mexico. Returning to the country able to say at least they did better than the five-time African champions Mazembe would boost Sundowns’ confidence.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) giants have been the Brazilians’ yardstick lately. When Mazembe won the Champions League last year, then-coach Patrice Carteron said Sundowns were the one team that troubled them in their journey to becoming African champions. Sundowns used those words as motivation in their march to win the continental tournament two months ago.
These clubs will meet next year in the CAF Super Cup, which pits the winners of the Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. But before that, Sundowns have to avenge their loss to Antlers on another Asian side.
“These games will empower us,” Kekana said. “We are at a level where we have set the bar for other South African teams. It’s really important to play with good intensity. We will come out on top against the Asian champions if we do that. Our aim is to make sure that the world sees South African football with a different eye.
"We saw that we aren’t really far (away) as Africans. We can go toe-to-toe with the best in the world. We just need to take our chances. That’s the only aspect that’s letting us down.”