Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena says his side deserves to lift the inaugural trophy of the African Football League (AFL) when they play Waydad Casablanca in Sunday’s return match at Loftus Versfeld.
The Moroccan club won the first leg 2-1 last Sunday at home. “Last season, we were clearly the best team in the Champions League and it is unfortunate that we never made it to the final.
“Furthermore, our players have worked hard, shown loyalty to each other and they deserve to win this trophy,” he said during Friday’s media briefing in Pretoria.
Ironically, Sundowns were eliminated from the semi-finals of the Champions League by Waydad proving a perfect opportunity to exert revenge on Sunday.
The Sundowns coach admits it is not going to be an easy walk for his side despite being at home.
“It is going to be a difficult game considering that it will be or first our major final match since 2016. We are up against a team that has been in the last two Champions League finals as well as the last seven Champions League semi-finals,” he pointed.
Despite these, Mokwena says his team played well and dominated in the first leg away from home and will be motivated repeat the same performance.
On his part, Waydad coach Adil Ramzi pointing out that both teams have a chance of winning Sunday’s match.
“It is a big game and being the last one, every one wants to win. We won 2-1 in the first leg which was a good result for us. However, it is still 50/50 chance for either team to win,” he said.
Ramzi said his team had prepared well for the match just like in the first leg played at home.
He regretted the absence of team captain Yahya Jabrane admitting they will miss the influential defender.
“Jabrane is a very important player for us and that is why we have carried him to motivate the rest of the squad. However, for me as a coach iam looking at the whole group and not just one player.
“This is a big match and every player is motivated to play. We will do our best to win this trophy,” he concluded.
