Mamelodi Sundowns will take a break from the cut-throat competition as they make their bow in this season’s Nedbank Cup on Sunday at Loftus Versfeld (6pm kick-off).
Their opponents will be Sibanye Golden Stars, a third-tier team from the Free State ABC Motsepe League, and one of eight amateur teams in the last 32 round.
This showdown will be a far cry from what Sundowns dealt with since the start of January.
In 18 days, the Brazilians played four times, and two matches were played in Morocco and DR Congo.
Three of the matches were CAF Champions League fixtures, and the remaining one was a Premiership encounter against relegation-doomed Magesi FC on Wednesday.
Despite dominating the match, Masandawana scraped home 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Tashreeq Matthews five minutes from the end against the weakest team in the league.
Sundowns should hardly raise a sweat against Sibanye Golden Stars. They play in the Free State ABC Motsepe League B Stream, and after winning seven of the 16 games this season, they are in fourth place on the log.
All the players are amateurs and work full-time for the mining and metals processing group, Sibanye-Stillwater.
They train after work, and after they qualified for the Nedbank Cup, they were hoping to be drawn against any of the PSL’s ‘Big Three’.
Stars captain Moiloa Molefe said it was “a dream come true” after drawing Sundowns as first-round opponents in Mzansi’s version of the FA Cup.
Sundowns, however, started their homework two weeks ago, and sent their technical staff to watch their games.
Their Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso said cup games have a habit of bringing “tricky matches”, and wants the team to be well prepared by showing the opposition “respect”.
“It’s a match that we need to play with a big respect, like all the matches we play, considering our opponent and not thinking about where they come from, but what they want from the match,” he said yesterday.
“Because if you look where they come from, maybe you can make already a mistake in the way you approach the game.
“So, we are, and we need to, approach the game in a very serious way. That’s the only way you can win the tricky matches that usually cup competitions bring.
“So, we don’t want to get to be surprised.
“We want to be very serious. I will be very serious in the way I demand our players face the game.
After grabbing two assists in the second half, Arthur spoke to us about Masandawana's comeback in Polokwane! 😌#Sundowns #BetwayPrem #RabatsenaGape pic.twitter.com/PlLcVqjzjO
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) January 23, 2025
“This is not only to respect the opponent, but also to respect ourselves.
“It’s respect for the competition, because it’s a very important competition that we want to reach (compete) in the last stage (round), and then obviously play to win.”
Cardoso also emphasised he placed great importance on the players’ attitude for this match.
“We understand that it’s not a matter of who you play against, it’s a matter of how you want to be, how you want to live,” said Cardoso.
“So, it’s constructing an attitude more than just trying to find the motivation for playing a match.” | Independent Media Sport