JOHANNESBURG – Marksman Jeremy Brockie is confident that more goals will come now that he has broken his duck at Mamelodi Sundowns. The New Zealand striker opened his Sundowns’ account in the 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs in the Shell Helix Ultra Cup last weekend after a long wait.
Brockie will look to keep scoring in the Brazilians’ clash with AS Togo-Port in the group stage of the Caf Champions League on Friday at Lucas Moripe Stadium with kick off at 9pm. “It’s been a long time coming. Now people can stop asking me when the first goal is going to come and we can move on,” Brockie said.
“I feel that’s a start of a good season ahead. To do it in front of 50 000-odd fans at FNB Stadium and lift a trophy at the end of it was special. The coach spoke about changing the team for the Chiefs game from the one that played in Togo and that it was up to us to put our hands up, take the opportunity and get our names on his mind when it comes to the game against AS Togo-Port. Hopefully I did that. I feel like now that the first one has hit the back of the net they’ll start coming.”
Bafana Ba Style will need all the firepower at their disposal to get past the Togolese side and make up ground in the tournament as they trail the leaders by three points after three games. “The confidence is very high now, I feel ready to take on the Togo team if selected,” Brockie said.
Brockie has done well on the continent before. Last year he finished as the top goal-scorer in the Caf Confederation Cup with SuperSport United. “When you play in these competitions, sometimes you have to move away from your normal style and adjust to what’s put in front of you,” Brockie said.
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“We played on an astroturf, the bounce of the ball was a little bit different compared to grass and you have to go a little more direct to put pressure on the opposition to try and get them to make mistakes. For me, as an attacking player, it’s just about positioning yourself in the box and make sure that you take the opportunity when it comes.
"We had a lot of chances in the first half in Togo to put the game away and they got one chance and punished us and then they sat in and defended for the rest of the game. We can’t afford to put ourselves in that position again.”