Despite being knocked out the MTN8 last four this past weekend, Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi remains calm and optimistic that his charges will make a comeback.
Masandawana suffered a shock 1-0 defeat (2-0 on aggregate) to Stellenbosch FC in the Wafa Wafa semifinals at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday afternoon, which also saw Sundowns fail to find the back of the net in three consecutive matches.
Mngqithi admitted that the MTN8 competition has proved challenging since his arrival at Chloorkop, also pointing out how his big name players did not come to the party over the two-legged ties.
“I’m not panicking at this stage,” Mngqithi said in the MTN8 post-match presser.
“Because I know sometimes with MTN8, all the years that I’ve been here in this club, I don’t know what happens in the beginning stages of the season.
“We always struggle sometimes and at this stage it’s worse because most of your key players are the ones that are not hitting the top gear.
“But we are hoping that we will still come back stronger,” he said.
Manqoba also seemed satisfied with his second-half substitutions though it was a bit too late to turn the game on its head.
“I’m very happy with the substitutions that one made,” he added.
“I think Aubrey [Modiba] at left-back really, really gave us something after Terrence’s [Mashego] injury.
“I also think Thapelo [Morena]on the other side did very well.
“We had to go for speed at the back and that’s why we played [Khuliso] Mudau as a centre-back to try and say, ‘Even if it is a one-against-one at the back, let’s try and have more numbers in the attack’.
“And we created good situations. [Kobamelo] Kodisang came in and really gave a good account of himself. Lebo [Maboeng] gave a good account of himself. Thapelo really I think he did very well in the minutes that he had.
“For me, I think it’s not bleak, but it’s just unfortunate,” Mngqithi further said.
