Isaac Shai believes Mamelodi Sundowns can rise from CAF Champions League disappointment

FORMER MAMELODI SUNDOWNS wingback Isaac Shai believes the Brazilians would have long put the disappointment of losing the CAF Champions League final behind them when they open their FIFA Club World Cup account against South Korea’s Ulsan midnight on Tuesday.

The South African champions are one of four clubs from Africa participating in the inaugural 32-team global soccer showpiece in the United States.

Grouped along with the Koreans, Germany’s Borussia Dortmund as well as Fluminense of Brazil, Sundowns are going to be hard-pressed to produce some of their best performances yet to progress into the knockout stage.

And the fact that they were recently denied the chance of adding a second star above their club crest when they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Pyramids FC in Africa’s premier club knockout competition, has got many feeling Sundowns will merely add to the numbers in America.

Shai, however, sees things differently: “Anything is possible in football. Yes it was disappointing that they lost in the Champions league and they would have been hurt by that.

"But they can rise from that and do well at the Club World Cup. They have a strong team and they can compete, I think they will be over that loss when the tournament starts.”

Sundowns are playing at the tournament a second time having been there in 2016. But this edition is much bigger than the seven-team event the Brazilians competed in in Japan, where they were beaten by a Korean team in the form of Jeonbuk Hyundai.

Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is realistic in his expectations, the Portuguese admitting they are not going to enjoy the kind of ball domination they usually do here at home.

"We are used to controlling matches in the South African league," the 53-year-old said of a club that recently won the national championship an eighth consecutive time. "Our possession can be 70 percent, sometimes even more."

He has readied his team accordingly though.

"Now we must prepare mentally to adapt to situations where our opponents will have the majority of possession. I doubt we will be able to control games like we regularly do in South Africa."

Sundowns would have been encouraged by the fact that Al Ahly opened their campaign with a goalless draw against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

As it was, the Egyptian giants coached by former Orlando Pirates technical boss Jose Riveiro should have won that match early Sunday South African time.

Trezeguet missed a penalty to leave Riveiro acknowledging that they made some errors.

“It’s a football game, a game of mistakes. We had a decent amount of chances in the first half to put the game on a different space,” he told FIFA.com.

"In the second half we were defending a little lower than what we wanted and then we had some problems in transition with controlling our first passes.”

Next up for Ahly is Brazil’s Palmeiras and Riveiro is looking for an improved showing by his lads.

“I am very happy to be here representing the Club of the Century in Africa, and we hope to have a better opportunity in the match against Palmeiras.”

Fixtures involving African teams at the Club World Cup in the United States:

Group A

June 19 - Palmeiras (BRA) v Ahly, East Rutherford

June 23 - Porto (POR) v Ahly, East Rutherford 

Group D

June 16 - Flamengo (BRA) v Esperance (TUN), Philadelphia

June 20 - Los Angeles (USA) v Esperance, Nashville

June 24 - Esperance v Chelsea (ENG), Philadelphia

Group F

June 17 - Ulsan (KOR) v Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA), Orlando

June 21 - Sundowns v Borussia Dortmund (GER), Cincinnati

June 25 - Sundowns v Fluminense (BRA), Miami

Group G

June 18 - Manchester City (ENG) v Wydad Casablanca (MAR), Philadelphia

June 22 - Juventus (ITA) v Wydad, Philadelphia

June 26 - Wydad v Al Ain (UAE), Washington

Note: Group winners and runners-up qualify for knockout stage