Manqoba Mngqithi happy with FIFA Club World Cup draw

Downs have been placed in group f where they will face Borussia Dortmund, Brazil’s Fluminense and South Korean champions Ulsan Hyundai.

Mngqithi believes his team stands a fair chance of making it out of the group stages.

"Considering that we are playing in the Club World Cup, we are playing against champions of all these continents and so many of the top teams from Europe, Asia, South America and Africa One would say we could not have asked for a better draw because in our group we have Dortmund which is a renowned powerful powerhouse from Germany,” Mngqithi said.

“We have Fluminense in Brazil which for whatever reason is a team that I visited in 2008 because I just wanted to know more about Brazillian football at that time. “Then Ulsan from Asia which I don't have much information about but I do think the draw was favourable to us because we also stand a chance like anybody else to compete in that group."

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The Brazilians made history at the end of the 2023/24 season by clinching their seventh successive league title.

Mngqithi adds that as a team that has done well in the CAF Champions League, even winning the continental competition in 2016, the only team that may give them problems is Bundesliga’s Dortmund.

"I would want to believe we've got a fair chance to compete like any of the teams that are in the World Cup and like you are saying we don't have most of the renowned names in our group. It's Dortmund that is a serious powerhouse,’ the coach added.

“Fluminense is in and out of the Copa Libertadores, they've not really been a dominant force in that space, they tried maybe a season ago but they've not really been in their peak performance.

“Then you've got a team like Sundowns that has consistently done well in the Champions League in Africa and current African Football League champions.

“Then the South Koreans which we know you are going to play against a team with a lot of intensity, lot of discipline, lot of hard work and that makes the group a little bit more open that maybe after Dortmund any other team can qualify for the next round."