It’s hurting too much – Mngqithi | African News

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has admitted that their elimination from the CAF Champions League hurts, but remains proud of the efforts shown by the players.

Sundowns played to a 1-1 draw with Angolan side Petro de Luanda in the second leg match of their quarterfinal encounter at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The result was not good enough as the Brazilians got knocked out of the competition via a 3-2 aggregate score.

This was also the third consecutive quarterfinal elimination for the South African Champions.

“It’s hurting too much, I don’t want to lie because what is very unfortunate is that I still believe our team was a better team on the day,” said Mngqithi.

“But unfortunately, that did not count because we did not put balls into the net. The truth of the matter is that in the Champions League, unlike in the PSL, you make one, or two stupid mistakes and you get punished. So, it hurts because you know your team is better than what it delivered, more especially in our first leg.

“Nonetheless I am very proud of the boys, it’s unfortunate that we did not go through to the semifinals but I think the boys really gave a good account of themselves,” he added.

Mngqithi added that the technical team would also need to reflect on their planning moving forward.

 “Probably it’s us the leadership that will have to take the bullet and say maybe we need to plan better and do better in the next coming matches and make sure that we improve in that space because seemingly we are not achieving our ultimate goal.”

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