Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac has opened up about Mamelodi Sundowns, with the club having sent analysts to recent games of the South African champions ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
The European club Dortmund will face Fluminense (South America), Mamelodi Sundowns (Africa) and Ulsan HD (Asia) as a diverse group of competitions in Group F which provides some compelling tactical styles and variations.
But the Croatian believes the Brazilians, and the Brazilian team have similarities, when asked what they thought of Sundowns’ after two analysts travelled to South Africa in recent months to watch the club live.
“This is something new, a special moment for each of us, because we usually play European teams now you play three [teams] from three different continents, it’s something new and something nice to be honest,” Kovac said when asked about Group F by iDiski Times.
“Nobody knows everything of each other as opponents but I think we have three different types of play, the Brazilian team is ball possession, a bit controlled football to keep the ball, then the Korean team is aggressive, fast and quick and Sundowns is more to the side of the Brazilian team [style].”
Kovac, a former international teammate of Krunoslav Jurčić, the head coach of Pyramids, admits he followed the results of the CAF Champions League final as well.
“I also know in the last two games they played in the final against the Egyptian team [Pyramids], and the head coach is a Croatian, so right away I know about that results of that match – so as we see it, there’s different types but for a top team as we are, we must handle this,” he stated.
“It’s the work of our analyst team and the work of our staff. We need to prepare the team as good as possible and I’m convinced that all of the four teams will prepare everything on the highest level.”
