“As Sundowns, we can do better but I’m still very optimistic that by the time we finish this group, it will look completely different,” Mngqithi said.
Manqoba Mngqithi remains bullish ahead of what will be yet another testing week of his tenure as the sole head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Following their trip to Morocco where they came back with one point after the 1-1 draw against AS FAR, the Brazilians face yet another difficult task in Raja Casablanca.
The CAF Champions League clash against the Moroccan champions could go a long way in deciding the outcome of Group B.
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Sundowns have drawn their first two matches of the group stages. Casablanca haven’t fared better either with a defeat to FAR and an away draw to AS Maniema Union of the DR Congo.
“I’d be lying to you if I said that this is a perfect start for us because in both matches that we played, if you look at all the metrics, I think we dominated in all facets of the game,” Mngqithi said.
“It’s just short of us converting all the chances that we got but otherwise we were just unfortunate not to win the first two matches. As Sundowns, we can do better but I’m still very optimistic that by the time we finish this group, it will look completely different.”
Mngqithi promised the two North African teams a different Sundowns team in their own backyard. Raja will be the first to travel to South Africa to play Masandawana at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
Meanwhile, FAR’s return match is scheduled for January next year in what will be the last game of the group stages to determine who advances to the quarterfinals.
In between those two matches, Sundowns will be away to Raja and Maniema before the group is decided in the new year.
It will be a catastrophic failure if the Tshwane giants don’t reach the knockout phase. However, Mngqithi is banking on home matches to progress to the next round of Africa’s biggest club competition.
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“It will be very different (in Pretoria) and that’s a promise I can keep. If we could play the way we played against them in front of all their supporters making very good noise and the atmosphere in the stadium, I think in Pretoria it’ll be very different,” Mngqithi concluded.
