HERMAN GIBBS
IT WOULD seem what Mamelodi Sundowns are facing is tantamount to climbing Mount Everest.
After Sundowns managed to defeat second-tier side University of Pretoria (AmaTuks) by the skin of their teeth in their Nedbank Cup quarter-final on Friday, their coach Rulani Mokwena declared that he wished the team’s next game would be rescheduled.
AmaTuks shocked Sundowns to hold them to a 1-all draw after extra time. In the resultant penalty shoot-out, Sundowns had to rely on goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ Houdini act to survive with a 4-3 win.
Mokwena appeared visibly drained after the match, which followed hot on the heels of matches against Cape Town Spurs, Young Africans and Richards Bay – all within 10 days. The intensity of Sundowns’ match roster for last month was much the same – a match every four days.
“Oh yes, for sure,” said Mokwena, after he was asked if he would have preferred to have their match against Swallows rescheduled.
Sundowns will play Swallows in a Premiership match at Dobsonville this evening. The PSL initially scheduled the match for Tuesday but since Sundowns are travelling to Tunisia for a match on Saturday, they successfully appealed to Swallows to bring the match forward by one day.
Sundowns play Esperance de Tunis in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final on Saturday.
Sundowns’ struggles against the weakest Premiership sides, as well as their goalless stalemates in successive Champions League matches, have been well-documented. Failure to defeat a lower-division opponent in regulation time was even worse.
The barrage of criticism following the great escapes that allowed them to remain undefeated despite mediocre performances is taking its toll.
“I am not a robot,” declared Mokwena afterwards.
“I said to myself, ‘You are allowed to feel tired, feel grumpy, worn down because you are a human being and not a robot’. I spend too much time on the team and it’s the same with players.
“They are allowed to feel like that (tired). I must deal with their mood swings, their tiredness and their grumpiness.
“At this stage we just keep going because no one cares. I said this the last time too, that no one cares. Who cares that I am feeling tired? No one cares.”
Mokwena said he was giving the players a break on Saturday to help them relax away from the game.
“I’m going to try very hard to have a social life,” said Mokwena. “My social life is the players, and I stress them so much, but I am going to try to give them a bit of a break mentally because they deserve and need it.”
Swallows coach Musa Nyatama said the matter of relegation was at the back of his mind and match points were vital.
“Realistically, we have to look at the log and who we are playing. We are up against Sundowns, who are a very good side,” said Nyatama said.
“It won’t be easy for us. For us it is a matter of how far we can go to get at least 32 points. That is a short-term goal to say let’s get to 32 points. Then (in) other matches we will see if we can get maximum points.”