Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has hailed the club ahead of their CAF Champions League second round clash against Bumamuru this afternoon.
Sundowns face off against the Burundi Premier League champions at the Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salam in Tanzania in their two-legged encounter for a place in the group stage of the 2023/24 Champions League competition.
“[It’s] fantastic, this is one of the trips where you have to thank the club for the investment because we were able to use a chartered [flight] to shorten the trip and offers us great possibilities to win the day, and by winning the day I mean affording time,” Mokwena said ahead of their continental opener this season.
“Not only for recovery and rest for the players but also for MD-2 preparation and activation and then possibilities for video analysis and makes sure we prepare for what is going to be a very difficult game against a good opponent.”
The club has enjoyed an unbeaten start to the league season with six wins from six, whilst picking a 1-1 in the MTN8 semi-final at Kaizer Chiefs, making them the overwhelming favourites to progress to the group stage proper.
But Mokwena says they need to exercise caution after studying the opposition thoroughly – thanks to his technical team’s efforts over the past few days.
“Bumamuru, a very difficult team, a newly established team, only nine years old but extremely ambitious with ownership that comes within the community and they did exceptionally well two seasons ago to win two trophies and qualify for the CAF Confederations Cup,” he explained.
“They were the champions last season in the [Burundi] Premier League, with an incredible record of 20 wins, eight draws and only two defeats – they have two very, very good players who represent the national team of Burundi.
“[Issa] Hakizimana, who is the right centre-half, tall aggressive, very good with the ball, the winger [Amissi] Bizimana, also aggressive, fast, uses both left and right foot, and then a very good striker in [Ali] Valentin, so a very good profile.
“We know the team, pedigree and experience, attitude of playing for wins, a good team with good possibilities to give us a good game.”
Sundowns face off against Bamamuru this afternoon at 15h00.
