Assistant coach Steve Komphela urges Sundowns to remember their stature after Super Cup defeat

Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach Steve Komphela has urged the club to draw strength from its stature and history after suffering a 3-1 defeat to USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup.

The South African side, who entered the contest as CAF Champions League winners, were favourites to beat their Algerian opponents, who secured qualification after winning the CAF Confederation Cup.

However, Sundowns failed to capitalise on home advantage at Loftus Versfeld, with Komphela admitting that the defeat had left the club disappointed.

Reflecting on the moments after the final whistle, Komphela revealed that a USM Alger player offered him words of encouragement despite celebrating his side’s triumph.

“It’s funny because as soon as the match came to an end, one of the USMA players came through and said something very strange; he said you guys are a big team, you will recover,” Komphela said.

“To me, that was profound. Sometimes in life we need reminders of who we are, and this is the one. Obviously, at Sundowns you would wish to win every trophy, but nobody has a God-given birthright to. We wanted to win it, but unfortunately it didn’t fall our way.”

The defeat represents a setback for Sundowns, who have established themselves among Africa’s leading clubs through their consistent pursuit of major honours.

Komphela acknowledged the disappointment within the dressing room and among the club’s supporters but insisted that the team must remain focused on the challenges ahead.

He cautioned against allowing future fixtures and expectations to distract the team from dealing with the disappointment of the defeat.

“You don’t want to start throwing forward and then get paralysed by starting to look at things that are coming, but where we are at, we’re hurting, and for our supporters as well,” he added.

Komphela also reflected on the expectations surrounding the final, arguing that Sundowns’ status as Champions League winners naturally made them favourites against the Confederation Cup champions.

However, he acknowledged that football does not always follow expectations and congratulated USM Alger for their triumph.

“The fact that we’re Champions League winners, when we play other champions but, in the Confederation, logic or common sense, or expectation would be Champions League winner should win.

“But sometimes football is not like that. We regret the result, we wanted it different, but unfortunately it didn’t come our way and congratulations to the opponent.”