Ronnie Kanalelo warns Mamelodi Sundowns remain a major threat in Carling Knockout rematch

Marumo Gallants coach Ronnie Kanalelo has warned that Mamelodi Sundowns will pose a significant challenge when the teams meet again in the Carling Knockout, despite his side having eliminated the reigning African champions from the competition last season.

The sides will renew their quarter-final meeting from the previous campaign, when Gallants defeated Sundowns on their way to reaching the final. Their run eventually ended with a defeat by Orlando Pirates.

Kanalelo, a former Sundowns goalkeeper, knows the scale of the task facing his team. Sundowns have already added two trophies this season, winning the MTN8 and the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup, while continuing to compete at the highest level in African football.

The Gallants coach said Sundowns’ strength was not simply a product of their recent success. He believes the club’s reputation has been built over many years through a clear pursuit of the best players and a commitment to challenging for honours in South Africa and on the continent.

“They have always been dangerous, since my days [there], nothing new about it – you know, Sundowns always went for the best players, so the objective has always been clear, they are all about titles, competing in Africa,” he said.

Kanalelo added that the club’s ambitions had grown further, with its ability to attract players from around the world helping it maintain its position among the leading teams in the country.

“But now again, their objectives are even higher, the PSL for them, they use it to get where they want to, that’s why they attract players from all over the world, they pay good wages, it’s a club where the best players want to go to… they have always been dangerous, nothing new,” he added.

Sundowns’ recruitment and financial strength have supported their continued challenge for domestic and African silverware. For Kanalelo, those qualities are part of a long-established identity rather than a development of the current period of dominance.

Gallants’ victory in last season’s quarter-final showed that Sundowns can be beaten in the Carling Knockout, but Kanalelo stressed that the result had not changed his assessment of his former club.

He said Sundowns had been regarded as a dangerous side even before he joined them, underlining the length of time over which the club had built its status.

“It’s not something that has happened overnight, Sundowns were even dangerous before my time there at the club,” he concluded.