Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach Steve Komphela believes the club must remember its stature and ability to recover after suffering a shock defeat to USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup at Loftus Versfeld.
The Brazilians went into the continental showdown as CAF Champions League winners and were widely expected to overcome their Algerian opponents, who qualified as CAF Confederation Cup champions.
However, Sundowns were unable to deliver the trophy in front of their home supporters, with Komphela admitting that the result had left the club hurting.
Reflecting on the immediate aftermath of the defeat, Komphela revealed an interesting exchange with one of the USM Alger players, who offered words of encouragement despite celebrating his team’s victory.
“It’s funny because as soon as the match came to an end, one of the USMA players came through and said something very strange; he said you guys are a big team, you will recover,” Komphela said.
“To me, that was profound. Sometimes in life we need reminders of who we are, and this is the one. Obviously, at Sundowns you would wish to win every trophy, but nobody has a God-given birthright to. We wanted to win it, but unfortunately it didn’t fall our way.”
The defeat represents a setback for a Sundowns side accustomed to competing for silverware, but Komphela insisted that the club cannot allow the disappointment to overshadow what lies ahead.
He acknowledged the pain felt within the dressing room and among the supporters, while also stressing that the team should not become distracted by future challenges before properly addressing the present.
“You don’t want to start throwing forward and then get paralysed by starting to look at things that are coming, but where we are at, we’re hurting, and for our supporters as well,” he added.
Komphela also reflected on the expectations surrounding the encounter, given Sundowns’ status as African champions and their opponents’ triumph in the Confederation Cup.
From a footballing perspective, he acknowledged that the expectation would naturally favour the Champions League winners but insisted that the game does not always follow conventional logic.
“The fact that we’re Champions League winners, when we play other champions but, in the Confederation, logic or common sense, or expectation would be Champions League winner should win.
“But sometimes football is not like that. We regret the result, we wanted it different, but unfortunately it didn’t come our way and congratulations to the opponent.”