The sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Pretoria.
Pyramids FC and Mamelodi Sundowns will meet in what is expected to be a thrilling second leg of the CAF Champions League final in Cairo tonight.
Both teams have all to play for after they played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Pretoria. Lucas Ribeiro’s opener for Sundowns was canceled out by a late Walid El Karti header for Pyramids.
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A goalless draw or any win at home would be enough to hand Pyramids their first-ever CAF Champions League title. However, a high scoring draw will see Sundowns being crowned the champions of Africa for the second time following their triumph under Pitso Mosimane in 2016.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s clash at the Air Defense Stadium, Pyramids coach Jurcic urged Egyptian football as a whole to rally behind his team, saying they are not representing themselves but the country of Egypt.
“We will play our usual way, and we call on the Egyptian fans to support us for the sake of football in the country, not just for Pyramids,” Jurcic told the media.
Commenting on the game, Jurcic said as much as they respect Sundowns, they will do everything in their power to win the final.
“It’s a decisive and difficult match.
“We’ll play our usual way, but we are ready for all scenarios. This is the CAF Champions League final — anything can happen.
“We’ve built character over this campaign. We respect Sundowns, but we are here to win.”
Pyramids carry an away goal advantage going into this match, and they are expected to apply the low block and try to catch Sundowns on the counter attack.
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso, however, is not only worried about this, but also Pyramids’ organised attack.
“It’s not only worrying about the counter-attacks from Pyramids, it’s also worrying about their organized attack, about their set-pieces, because they can score like us at any moment,” he explained.
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“Usually, in these games, the goals appear in the details, and you saw how the detail in the last seconds of the game gave one goal that was not expected already at that moment. Maybe before it wouldn’t be expected, but at that moment, no one expected it,” said Cardoso.
