Steve Komphela’s plea to fans ahead of Downs/Chiefs showdown

The venue has already put up sold-out signs with a crowd of over 87 000 expected inside Soccer City for the cup tie.

Kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes the last time these two sides met in September, and Komphela explained why it’s disruptive.

"Before one forgets I must also convey a message that the ambiance and environment was made perfect by supporters. Only if they can come earlier because it's got a whole lot of other dynamics in it that when they delay the start of the match it affects your match day routine,” Komphela said.

“In preparation for the match, say the match is at 3 o'clock what time is your pre-match meal? What time is your pre-match talk? The minute the match gets postponed or delayed a bit then it would have affected your pre-match meeting, departure from the hotel and pre-match meal.

“So, it does affect us big time and the psychology of sport as well after warm up, you get back into the dressing room, getting ready for four, five, six minutes until the whistle is blown for teams to come to the tunnel and then they get to be informed that, guys the match is going to be delayed for 30 minutes.

“It deflates, it's another restart. So, if they could just come early, that's my only request, I know it's not my responsibility but from the fact that it does affect the readiness and preparedness of the players to get on a park and give a good display, it does affect us."

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On facing Chiefs again, Komphela believes their 2-1 win in the Betway Premiership more than a month ago gave them an insight into the Amakhosi camp.

"It's gonna be an exciting match and already the fact that it will be round two, people  can have some sort of level of expectations. There's more of a measure based on what happened a couple of weeks back and indeed it was an exciting match,” he added.

“An early goal from Kaizer Chiefs in a packed stadium, great environment, good ambiance and we expect the same but I think we had a responsibility to stay calm so that we can see ourselves through the match."

Komphela, who spent three years coaching The Glamour Boys, also spoke about how Sundowns are preparing against a Chiefs side energised by coach Nasreddine Nabi.

"Our point of reference would be the match we played. You guys do SWAT analysis, you look at areas where you did very well, are those opportunities still existing with the current set up at Kaizer Chiefs? 

“I don't think it will be very professional of me to come here and do an assessment of our opponents. They do have their strengths, they do have their weaknesses but there has been a significant element of belief, positiveness, there's aura, there's energy that you feel.

“That energy comes from the results they acquired and how they see things unfolding, there's hope that this thing is gonna click and it's good to see that because when that happens, it puts everybody under pressure."