Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Thlopie Motsepe says he’s not nervous about the club’s first two defeats during their pre-season tour to Austria.
The DStv Premiership champions lost 3-1 to German third division side SV Sandhausen on Tuesday, before going down 1-0 to 16-time Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv a day later.
Overall, it’s now four defeats in a row for Masandawana after the 1-0 defeat to Cape Town City on the final day of the 2023/24 league campaign and the 2-1 loss in the Nedbank Cup final to Orlando Pirates.
The latest two defeats, albeit in in-official pre-season friendlies, have come after the sacking of Rulani Mokwena, with Maqoba Mngqithi and Steve Komphela currently in charge of the squad.
However, Motsepe insisted the club picked strong pre-season opposition to prepare themselves for their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in June and July 2025.
“What’s happening at the club, is we’re actually in the process of trying to make sure that we are set in the best position possible to make this one of the best seasons we’re gonna have in our history,” he said after the funeral service of Stanley ‘Screamer’ Tshabalala on Thursday.
“And there’s a quote, I don’t want to misquote Muhammad Ali, but there’s a boxing quote that says, ‘You you train hard so you can fight easy’.
“And if you look at the quality of opponents that we are facing in this pre-season, they are respectfully very strong, challenging football clubs.
“And so the results that we’re seeing now is us setting ourselves up against the caliber that we might find ourselves playing against in the Club World Cup.
“That’s what we’re doing right now, so that as the season progresses, we’re ready.”
When asked whether he is nervous after the first two defeats, Motsepe expressed his confidence into the team.
“No, not at all.”
Instead, he urged the fans to put their weight behind the club.
“I think if there’s any message I want to give to the Mamelodi Sundowns supporters at this time it’s the same thing that I’ve always said, every end of season and every start of season – ‘Thank you for the support. Thank you always for being behind us. We’re going to need you, every single season we need you’.”
