Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says he hopes the MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates will be a clean game of football.
Pirates host Sundowns at Moses Mabhida for the opening domestic cup final of the 2023/24 season in a repeat of last season’s semi-final.
The Buccaneers went on to win 3-0 on aggregate and lift one of two titles after the Nedbank Cup, while Sundowns secured the league for a sixth successive season.
Sundowns have beaten Pirates three times since that eventful afternoon in Polokwane and the high-profile fixtures have not been short of major talking points, from questionable officiating to some shocking tackles from both teams.
“The detail is in the fact that the personality of Pirates during 90 minutes is not the same, in all our encounters the way they start is not the same way they finish, the way the finish the first half is not how they start the second half, the way the start the second half is not how they finish the match,” Mokwena said when asked about their approach to the final.
“I would assume, just like them, as they go into every single detail, we are the same, we try to zoom into the details, we try to plan as best as we possibly can, we try to make sure the players have enough information. At times we give more information than necessary but it’s what we believe in.
“Preparation eliminates fear and I’m a big fan of that statement because when you are prepared you have less anxiety and when you have less anxiety you are able to read and see situations better. You have an understanding of the opposition, is it a midfield five, three, or four? Do they press with one, two, three? Do they press to go in or out?
“Do they build from the back? Which side do they want to go to… there are a lot of things the players have to be aware of and that’s the information we try to give them based on footage, and data and then also base it on their own experiences.
“We talk a lot to the players, I ask them what they feel, think and see, what they experience and then you try to formulate some ideas of what you want to get from the game but of course, it’s a difficult opponent with some very good players on the pitch.”
Mokwena went on to list the recent injuries his squad has suffered against the Soweto giants and said he is hoping that football will be the winner for a spectacle in Durban this weekend.
“It’s an opponent playing their third cup final as a group, so we know and understand the magnitude of the assignment and have to for it as well. And hopefully, it’s a very good game of football without the harassment of referees, and the physicality of tackles over the top,” he continued.
“Almost every game we lose a player against Pirates with a very severe injury. Haashim Domingo, in the Carling Black Label, Nassir is still not here because of the situation with Mpontshane.
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“In the last game, Sibisi took Marcelo out on the halfway line, with a studs-up two-footed tackle and Marcelo hasn’t really recovered from that, so I’m hoping for a game that doesn’t have too much of those and more football you know.
“And [I hope] people are able to talk about football and less about the handbags, the things on the periphery so hopefully that’s the type of game we get to witness.”
