Rulani Mokwena has insisted his side cannot rest on their laurels from winning the African Football League, if they want to go far in the CAF Champions League.
Masandawana have a difficult quarter-final first leg at Young Africans, who have picked up two wins and one draw in the group stages at home, qualifying as runner-up from Group D behind Al Ahly.
Mokwena and his side have shown they can deal with difficult away trips when winning the African Football League, where they had to eliminate Petro de Luanda, Al Ahly and Wydad Athletic Club on their way to the final – but Mokwena insisted those games are memories of the past and they need to focus on what’s ahead of them.
“Yeah, in football, you’re you’re only as good as your last performance and if we rest too much on our laurels, and we expect the experience to play we’ll be in big trouble,” he told reporters.
“And so we have to go into the game and rely on our qualities and play football and understand how difficult it’s going to be. But also trust in our abilities.
“You know, we know we are a good team, we’ve got a lot of good players, and we work very hard with our preparation. And of course, that is probably the most important thing.”
Mokwena also insisted that Sundowns are keen to test themselves at this level, as they are now approaching the business end of the season.
“We are ready, we are Sundowns and the more difficult it is for us the better because then it’s a good test to see what level are we at – are we really at the level that we perceive ourselves to be,” he added.
“Let’s see tomorrow because the game is always played on the pitch and we look at forward to the encounter, we’re excited to be here, excited to play in a full stadium that’s going to be branded with a lot of yellow.
“It can easily be Sundowns yellow and we looking forward to that.”
