BRING on Borussia Dortmund, right?
Following their 1-0 victory over Ulsan HD in the Fifa Club World Cup opener early Wednesday morning South African time in Orlando, Florida, Mamelodi Sundowns can be excused for being cock-a-hoop ahead of a match they ordinarily would be dreading.
When the draw for this extended global spectacle was made and the South African champions were drawn into Group F, the one match that stood out as a toughie was the one against the German giants – Dortmund.
Football is, however, pretty fickle at the top, and the opening results of the Club World Cup have not been what many would have predicted.
Sundowns are top of the table after beating their South Korean opposition, while Dortmund are joint second with Fluminense of Brazil – the two teams having played to a goalless draw.
Masandawana face Dortmund in Cincinnati on Saturday evening (6pm SA time start), and are sure to be full of confidence they can give as good as it takes against the Europeans.
They were good value for their 1-0 win over Ulsan courtesy of an Iqraam Rayners goal – the striker having actually found the net on three occasions in the first half.
But two of his goals were ruled out by the VAR, the first because the ball had touched his arm before going in, and the other due to him having been in an offside position when Lucas Ribeiro Costa threaded through a killer pass.
Coach Miguel Cardoso was understandably smiling from ear to ear post-match when he addressed the media, the Portuguese mentor happy to have somewhat laid the ghost of their CAF Champions League final defeat by Pyramids FC to rest.
“We are very happy to be in this experience, fulfilling dreams, and making it an objective of winning a game at a Fifa Club World Cup in this new format of the tournament. It’s not easy to achieve victory, it was a long way until this moment,” he said.
“As time goes by, having a margin of 1-0 in the scoreboard, normally there will be an intention to keep the result, so the last minutes, we didn’t play as much as we’d like.
“But we created chances, and we’re happy for the first win of the tournament. I’m happy for the players and the joy they give to the country, their families and to the club.”
Cardoso was understandably delighted with his team’s first-half showing in a match whose kick-off was delayed by an hour due to adverse weather conditions, the delay coming after the teams had already walked onto the field.
“We made a very wonderful first half. It was important that we could keep the pace and not go away from the game-plan to try and score the second goal, which was small details, centimetres… we could not do it.”
Cardoso continued to shower his team with praise.
“We used a lot of energy in the right way, before, during and after.
“But we have the right emotions. The team found the right place, where to start the match, we prepared it tactically and strategically.
“And we found the commitment between everybody, which was important to really play it according to the preparation we had.”
They will need to replicate that kind of energy against Dortmund on Saturday (6pm SA time start).
