Manqoba Compares Petro To Downs In 2016

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has compared their CAF Champions League quarter-final opponents Petro de Luanda to the Sundowns team who won the tournament in 2016.

Sundowns face Petro in the first leg away in Luanda on Saturday, with the game scheduled for a 6pm kick off. The return leg will be a week later in South Africa.

Mngqithi said that the Angolans had done very well to come second in their group, and their performances reminded him of when Sundowns surprised many as they went on to lift the trophy in 2016.

“If I were to be honest with you, that Petro has really done exceptionally well this season. And they’ve scored quite a number of goals,” Mngqithi told the media.

“They have got some Brazilians now that are very dangerous, that have done a lot of good work.

“In their group they could have easily been number one, had they not been beaten by Wydad in the last match. They looked like they were going to top that group and they did very well.

“Yes, obviously when you are comparing it to Esperance, to your Belouizdad and all these other teams that we could have played against, or Raja, yes, you would say, who are these guys?

“But for me, Petro is very close to what we were when we were there in 2016, because everybody was asking ‘why these guys’? And we kept going, we kept going, we kept going, no one would have given us a chance to even be in the quarter-finals.

“So we are playing against a formidable team that we have to respect and understand it’s not going to be easy. They are a free-scoring team, they are doing well even in their local league, so we have to really dig very deep.”

The ‘Masandawana’ mentor believes they are blessed when it comes to travelling and that might help them even domestically.

“Yes, it’s a bit of an advantage, the fact that we are not traveling very far. It’s an advantage in terms of making sure that we face all competitions, probably with less fatigue. But it’s not an advantage because the opposition that we are playing is weaker,” he added.

“Because even the conditions in Angola are a little bit difficult sometimes, that place can be very hot. So we are just hoping everything will favour us. And hopefully we get the results that we would be looking for.”

Mamelodi Sundowns will play against Golden Arrows in their DStv Premiership encounter on Tuesday afternoon before they will leave the country on Wednesday to Angola.

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