“Sometimes you can win them and sometimes you cannot. Sometimes you come out with two and sometimes one that you already have won. But if you believe, maybe fortunes can change and you can win all three trophies.”
JOHANNESBURG – The chase for a domestic treble remains very much on for Mamelodi Sundowns but coach Pitso Mosimane acknowledges that they “may have to leave room for disappointment” in their pursuit.
The Brazilians’ come-from-behind success stories in local football are well documented, having won the last two Premiership titles after strong finishes while juggling domestic and continental football.
But Mosimane is a realist and he’s well aware that a third time may not be lucky – no thanks to a hiatus from football that spanned over five months due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The post-mortem of the break has resulted in the Brazilians hitting a torrid spell in their bid to close in on log leaders Kaizer Chiefs, who’ve played a game extra and have a six-point lead, as they drew their first two league matches with Orlando Pirates (0-0) and Highlands Park (1-1).
In the first game after the resumption of the season under the ‘bio-bubble’ which enforces strict Covid-19 protocols, the Brazilians left it late as they defeated Bidvest Wits 3-2 to reach the final of the Nedbank Cup.
And having won the Telkom Knockout in December, the gold medal for the South African premier club knockout competition and Premiership would complete an impressive treble.
“It’s tough. It’s easy to speak but difficult to do. As I said in my closing, you can do it if you have a good foundation but if you don’t play football for four months, then this is what you get: not very good performances,” said Mosimane during the virtual post-match press conference after the Highlands Park game on Friday.
“We know that we are not playing very well. We are not playing to our standards. But you can’t buy it, you’ve got to go through it and try. We’ve got a final, so we’ll try to win that. Yes, we are not going to give up because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day.”
But Mosimane says they’ll continue to push for that feat.
“We just have to keep going. We are an ambitious team as always. We are trying to win the three trophies,” he said.
“Sometimes you can win them and sometimes you cannot. Sometimes you come out with two and sometimes one that you already have won. But if you believe, maybe fortunes can change and you can win all three trophies.”
The halt of the domestic season may have ruined the momentum for some of the teams but it also brought a silver lining for most youngsters who were promoted to fill in the gaps at senior level as the league exercised the five substitutions rule to ease the pressure amid injuries and inferior match fitness.
Mosimane promoted Malebogo Modise and Promise Mkhuma from the reserves, while the latter made his senior debut against the Lions of the North, rewarded for his impressive outing with the MultiChoice Diski Challenge team and Amajita (the Under-20 national team).
“It’s important to give the younger ones an opportunity to play,” Mosimane said.
“I think football under Covid-19 has give us an opportunity to use the younger ones a lot because of the five subs rule.”
Sundowns face Cape Town City at Loftus Versfeld on Monday (6pm kick-off).
@Mihlalibaleka
