Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to make their away goal advantage count when they host Wydad Casablanca in the second leg of the African Football League final on Sunday.
The South African giants lost the first leg in Morocco last week 2-1 and will need to win at least 1-0 to achieve an aggregate victory on away goals.
Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena acknowledges the pressure that comes with playing on the biggest stage on the African continent and believes his team has what it takes to get the desired result.
“Sometimes there is this feeling that I get that when we play well and we don’t win, people are very quick to forget the result and focus on the performance,” Mokwena told the CAF website.
“When we win, but we don’t play well, people are very quick to forget the result and focus the performance and that’s the pressure at Mamelodi Sundowns. It only comes because we’ve set the expectation that we can play well and win.
“We’ve shown that we are capable of doing that so it’s our own fault sometimes that we are under pressure, not only to win but to play well and win”
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Wydad and Sundowns have met 13 times in the CAF Champions League with the Moroccan giants winning five times while the South Africans have taken three wins and five matches have ended in draws including last season’s two-legged semi final which favoured Wydad on away goals.
This is clearly going to be another nail-biting encounter, something Wydad coach Adil Ramzi anticipates.
“For the first time, I feel that football is playing against football. I like to play football and the Sundowns coach is the same. I have a lot of respect for him”, he said.
Bound by brotherhood, united by fair play ???????????? ????????#AFL | #CAF | #FIFA | #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/lSL0LtsVrO
— African Football League (@afl_africa) November 11, 2023
The winner of Inaugural AFL edition will walk home with a mouth-watering prize money of $4 million while the runner-up will receive $3 million.
