Mamelodi Sundowns star Thapelo Morena reveals why he is inspired by Bafana Bafana who beat Tunisia at the AFCON tournament. Sundowns are away from home for their CAF Champions League semi-final clash against Tunisian side, Esperance.
Ahead of the match against the four-time African champions, Morena says beating Tunisia at AFCON which had Esperance players means they have inside information on how they play. The speedy Masandawana winger says they are ready to face their hosts in a hostile environment as he detailed how they anticipate Esperance’s approach on Saturday night.
Sundowns Star on How Bafana Inspired Him in Esperance Game
The Former Bloemfontein Celtic star, Morena is adamant Esperance will start the game like a house of fire, utilising the wings to penetrate their rearguard. In addition, the Randfontein-born Bafana international added that they aim to force the Tunisians to come inside, instead of playing on the flanks.
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“The first few minutes, they are going to come at us guns blazing because they’re playing at home. They will go mostly on the sides as that’s how they play,” said Morena.
“We saw that when we played Tunisia when Bafana beat Tunisia with several Esperance players at the recent AFCON in Ivory Coast. The most important thing for us is to try and close the sides and force them inside, where we have numbers.”
Sundowns Star: How Esperance Fans Will Intimidate Them
The experienced Sundowns star who has a CAF Super Cup gold medal with the Chloorkop-based giants, expects a rowdy crowd as the match is a sold-out affair. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old versatile winger insisted that they won’t be intimidated in any way in Tunis.
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“They’ve one of the best supporters that I’ve ever played in front of. I think the atmosphere will be great but they always like to light up the flames and explosives, we must not get intimidated by that at all,” Morena said.
“Our mindset is a little bit different when we play Champions League. We are experienced enough to deal with hostile atmospheres…we know how passionate the supporters of these teams like Esperance are. The atmosphere at Esperance games is at the same level as that of Wydad and Al Ahly. Even with that, we will play our normal football and do our best.”
Looking at the previous meetings between the two outfits, Sundowns and the Blood and Gold have only met twice with the Tunisians winning the last meeting 2-1, in the group stages of the very same tournament in June 2017 in Tunis. The first leg had finished goalless in Tshwane three weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, Sundowns are expected to host their North African counterparts in the second leg of the semi-final at Loftus Versfeld Stadium next Friday night.
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