Sundowns ‘hurting’ after CAF Super Cup defeat, says Komphela

Mamelodi Sundowns senior coach Steve Komphela says the club is “hurting” after their 3-1 defeat by USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup, but believes they will recover from another setback in continental competition.

The Tshwane side suffered the loss in front of their home supporters at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday, missing out on the chance to claim another trophy.

The result came shortly after Sundowns were eliminated from the CAF Champions League by Angola’s Wiliete SC in the second qualifying round last month. That defeat also took place at home, making Sunday’s loss the second painful blow for the club in a short period.

Despite the disappointment, Komphela said a message from one of the USM Alger players had offered an unexpected reminder of Sundowns’ standing and their ability to respond.

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

“This was profound. And to me, that was proper. Sometimes in life we need reminders of who we are, and this is the one.

“Obviously, at Sundowns, our wish is to win every trophy. We wanted to win it, [but] unfortunately it didn’t fall our way. And you don’t want to be throwing forward and then get paralyzed by the fact we start look at things that are coming.

“But where we are, we are hurting, and for our supporters as well,” added the veteran coach.

Sundowns will now have a break from their demanding schedule before returning to action on the weekend of 21-22 November.

Their next fixture will be a Carling Knockout semi-final against Kaizer Chiefs, with the match scheduled to take place at home.

Komphela acknowledged the strong desire within Sundowns to compete for and win every available trophy, but indicated that the team must deal with the disappointment rather than allow it to affect their focus on the matches ahead.

The defeat means Sundowns’ recent continental campaign has ended with two successive setbacks on home soil: first against Wiliete SC in the CAF Champions League second qualifying round and then against USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup.