Mamelodi Sundowns aim to rediscover form before MTN8 final

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Grant Kekana says the international break gave the club an opportunity to recharge and prepare again, despite interrupting their momentum ahead of Saturday’s MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates.

The Brazilians had been building confidence after progressing in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, but 15 key players were away on international duty with Bafana Bafana, Uganda and Zimbabwe during the pause for AFCON qualifiers.

Their absence has made preparations for the final less straightforward, with Sundowns now needing to quickly restore their rhythm before facing Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Kekana, however, believes the break also created valuable time for the squad to recover and reassess their plans.

“Yeah, obviously we would have loved to keep the momentum on a good wicket but I think it also gave us time to re-energise, to plan again properly,” Kekana said.

“I think we’ve used this break to do that and that’s why I’m saying, as much as we had eight, nine guys away on international duty.

“The ones that stayed showed the same desire and commitment and we knew that once the break is over we’ll be headed to a final. So, it could be good or bad but I think we used it to our advantage.”

Sundowns will be attempting to overcome a Pirates side that has established itself as the leading force in the MTN8 over the past four seasons.

Kekana said his team could not afford to become distracted by Pirates’ record in the competition and instead had to concentrate on executing their own game plan.

“I think it’s just for us to play till the final whistle, you know. Focus on what we can control and not focus too much on what we can’t,” he added.

“I think a lot of the time maybe we just steered away from what we could control and I think this time around it’s just about us making sure that we focus on what we can control.”

The defender believes that maintaining that focus will be central to Sundowns’ attempt to dethrone the Soweto club and claim another trophy in front of the Moses Mabhida Stadium crowd.