By Michael Madyira
Maritzburg United will be out to achieve what most Premier Soccer League teams have struggled to do against Mamelodi Sundowns this season.
The team of choice visit the Brazilians for Sunday’s Nedbank Cup round of 16 tie at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Sundowns’ only defeats on the domestic scene this season were penalty shootout losses to Orlando Pirates and TS Galaxy in the MTN8 final and Carling Cup last-16.
But they have been unbeaten in the league, asserting their dominance on the home front.
National First Division side Maritzburg will be trying to achieve what other PSL teams have been struggling to do by upsetting the Tshwane giants within 90 minutes.
The Brazilians are known for being ruthless against lower-tier teams and Maritzburg coach Simo Dladla admits that what separates them and Sundowns is “the difference in quality.”
It would be a monumental feat for the team of choice to eliminate Sundowns from the Nedbank Cup.
In recent years, Masandawana have not been troubled by lower-division teams.
Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena admits the pressure is on them in facing Maritzburg United.
“We are looking forward to facing Maritzburg United, it should be a very interesting one,” Mokwena told Sundowns media.
“They are a good team with PSL experience and they have very good players. They also have a very good coach who has very extensive experience in this competition and the PSL, so we will have to come well-prepared in order to beat them.”
“These games are very tough and the difficulty is everybody expects you to win, so the pressure is on you and you have to perform on the day and it’s not easy.”
On plotting against the opponents, Mokwena thanks the television coverage Division One teams are getting.
“Fortunately, we are now getting more coverage of the first-division games and we have to give credit to the PSL,” the Sundowns coach said.
“Maritzburg United’s latest game was televised. I also have to give a lot of credit to our technical team, specifically our analysis department.”
“They have loaded most of Maritzburg’s games. We will spend a bit of time trying to prepare and see exactly how they set up.”
Sundowns have previously won the Nedbank Cup six times are are still lagging behind Kaizer Chiefs who have claimed this competition 13 times.
Pictured above: Mamelodi Sundowns players celebrating Teboho Mokoena’s goal against Pyramids FC
Image source: Mamelodi Sundowns
