Wits to face Atletico Madrid, Sundowns play All Stars

JOHANNESBURG – Bidvest Wits will lock horns with Atletico Madrid in Friday’s Gauteng Future Champions International Tournament semi-final, after both sides finished on top of their respective groups following Thursday’s matches.

Wits progressed to the semi-final stages of the tournament having beaten all of their opponents in their respective group, while their opponents managed to produce just two wins from their three group matches.

Armando de la Morena, Madrid’s head coach, said a victory against Wits, a side they played in last year’s finals, would be much sweeter mainly because of how the Braamfontein side have improved since last year’s campaign.

“I’m happy to have finished on top of our group,” De la Morena said. “But our focus has now shifted to Friday’s game which we hope to come out with a win there.

“The plan is to try and produce the same result (2-1 win) we did against Wits in last’s year’s final. If we win by a far much better result, compared to last year’s one, then we would be happier. But I doubt that’s going to be the case.

“Wits have shown great improvement in this tournament based on how they played in last year’s edition. We hope to come out with a win and reach the finals of the tournament again, when we play against them this Friday.”

Meanwhile, Wits coach Dillon Sheppard expressed his desire to win this year’s edition after having fallen short in last year’s campaign. However, Sheppard argued that his primary focus was on getting his junior players exposed to competitive football.

“Ideally, yes. I would really like to reach the finals. Winning it would be a dream come true,” Sheppard said.

“But my number one priority now is to make sure that we give these boys as much exposure they can get to international football. Secondly, we need to make sure that they develop accordingly as players. And lastly, make sure that their character is built throughout this process. Winning it would be an added bonus for us, really.”