Despite the losses, I believe we made our mark in the USA – Jerry Tshabalala

The South Africans lost 2-0 to Japan’s INAC Kobe in the early hours of this morning (Sunday, 18 August) – their second defeat in the tournament. They were beaten 3-0 by hosts Kansas City Current in the opening match on Thursday morning. Tshabalala says they can only build on this performance going forward.

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 ''Honestly speaking, I believe we made a mark. As disappointing as it is that we couldn't even score a single goal, but the performance we put up here in both games, I still think it was a top performance. We can only build from here going forward,'' said Tshabalala.

Following the USA exercise, Tshabalala says he wants to sit down with the club’s management to make a request to play more of these competitions to keep the high intensity.

 ''We have to go back home and discuss with our management if possible, to say in three months' time we need to play against a team that plays with high intensity. We want to participate in the Club World Cup, and for us to play there we need more experience when it comes to such games. So maybe once in three months we have to go out of the country or out of the continent to play in such tournaments, so that come the Club World Cup, we are ready,'' added Tshabalala.

Tshabalala says there was a huge improvement from his players in the clash against Kobe as the Brazilians adapted well to the stage, compared to when they took on KC Current in the first match.

''The only difference could be the fact that we adapted to the stage and our players were not overwhelmed with the stage, and we tried to play our own game,'' he concluded.

Sundowns Ladies are the first African club to be invited to the Women’s Cup and Tshabalala says the experience has helped a lot and they will return to the tournament a better team next time.

 Tshabalala says the major takeaway for the technical team is to have not just one plan but several, which can be adjusted as the match progresses.

 Sundowns Ladies are expected back in the country on Monday night.