Neo Maema urges Sundowns to brush off Champions League disappointment

Neo Maema of Mamelodi Sundowns during the Caf Champions League 2021/22 quarter-final match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Petro de Luanda at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg on 23 April 2022. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Neo Maema of Mamelodi Sundowns during the Caf Champions League 2021/22 quarter-final match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Petro de Luanda at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg on 23 April 2022. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Published Apr 27, 2022

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Johannesburg - Mamelodi Sundowns are still licking their wounds after being dumped out of the Caf Champions League quarter-finals stages for the third season in a row.

The Brazilians seemed imperious in the group stages of the competition, but pressure told over the weekend and they succumbed to defeat at the hands of Pedro De Luanda. Midfielder Maema has urged his teammates to move on with an opportunity to win two other competitions still on the horizon.

"We only had a short period of time to go through our disappointments. We were very hurt and sad to exit the competition we had worked so hard to try and win. But this is football and these things happen," he said.

"Our coaches and the entire Sundowns family has been very supportive and they have really helped us in dealing with this but we have the responsibility to move on now because we are a big team and we expect that kind of professionalism from ourselves."

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The defending champions take on an in-form Cape Town City on Wednesday evening with the opportunity to seal yet another title with a point in this match, and Maema said he and his teammates are well aware of the kind of threat their opposition will pose.

"City have won four of their last five games and drew their last one, and that could only breathe confidence into their game. We know they're gonna attack us so we are prepared for that," he said.

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