Manqoba Mngqithi compares Sundowns, Chiefs clash to CAF test

The Brazilians emerged 2-1 winners against Amakhosi having come from behind at a packed FNB Stadium on Saturday to remain top of the table.

READ: Brilliant Boks clinch Rugby Championship with emphatic win over Argentina

Mngqithi compared the match to a hostile away clash in the continent’s premium tournament.

''They were very strong, they were pushing everything - which was good for us. It is a good preparation for the Champions League, because we are going to play against these big crowds in North Africa or West Africa, or anywhere the draw will take us. 

If you can suffer like this and show this kind of resilience, because we had to shape many times, we started with a 4-3-3, moved into a diamond, moved from a diamond to a 4-5-1 and had to come back to a 5-4-1 where we were trying to take care of their six  and our players adapted well. Though there were some scary moments, they were from long balls and not necessarily from the dominance of the position,'' said Mngqithi.

Sundowns are again through to the group stages of the Champions League having gone all the way to the semi-finals last season.

Mngqithi elaborated on why he felt Chiefs gave them a teaser of what’s to come.

''I think it was a very nice dress rehearsal of our group stages, because it is going to be like this. If you check from pot A to pot D, the teams that we have are teams that are going to give anyone a hard time away from home. So we needed this test to come through,'' added Mngqithi.

The Sundowns coach added that another lesson from Soccer City was the crowd attendance of 85 000, the majority who were Chiefs supporters.

Amakhosi were playing at a sold out venue for the third successive league match.

''One must also commend the fact that Chiefs really brought their supporters, and it is always nice when you see a big team bringing supporters like that. I also saw a good number of yellow nation. 

I believe we can improve and get some inspiration from the sold out venues that have been playing. I think as Sundowns we can also do that, with a little bit of confidence and faith in the team, and we give the same support the Chiefs supporters gave today - I do believe we will be even stronger,'' he expressed.

On the overall match with Lucas Costa and Iqraam Rayners scoring twice to cancel out Ranga Chivaviro’s opener, Mngqithi admitted Sundowns started slow.