7 months ago
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Mamelodi Sundowns has pointed out height as Mbabane Swallows' biggest weapon ahead of the first leg of their Champions League final preliminary match at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday (8pm).
Swallows, who are playing their home match in South Africa because there is no suitable venue in Eswatini, are not reputable on the continent but Sundowns coach Mngqithi said they have tall players who can be dangerous in set pieces.
The Brazilians should not have too many problems dealing with the Swallows’ aerial threat because they have defenders with presence like Khuliso Mudau, Mothobi Mvala, Mosa Lebusa, Kegan Johannes Grant Kekana and Terrence Mashego.
“They possess three elements that are dangerous. They are a team that is good on set pieces, their delivery into the near post is unbelievable and they attack the ball aggressively,” said Mngqithi about Swallows.
“Normally when you play against Southern African Development Community (Sadc) teams, you will expect that they are physically not as big as Mbabane Swallows but they have wingers and strikers that are tall and quick.
“When you have wingers, two fullbacks, two centrebacks and at least one central midfielder who are tall, that already shows they are a team that put a lot of attention on set pieces and they are doing very well in that space.
“Their other big factor is their transitional speed from defence to attack, if your rest defence is not good they can punish you. Besides that, probably you just assume that based on the speed and intensity, the profile of the game will rise.
Mngqithi also pointed out they have weaknesses which they will be looking to exploit.
“They do have some areas of weakness which we can capitalise on. They are a team that plays in groups and not compact. They have a defensive five and that opens them up a little bit sometimes.”
Mngqithi has also warned his players to have the right mentality and not underestimate Swallows.
“We have been on this road before where we played against teams like Chicken Inn from Zimbabwe, Zesco from Zambia, Maniema from DR Congo and they gave us a tough time.
“When are you play in the Champions League, you have to show respect because many teams have burnt their fingers by not respecting the opponents. We do our level best in the group to make sure that everybody understands there are no easy matches.
“We were all stunned in DR Congo when Maniema scored. We are playing against Mbabane Swallows who showed in the friendly matches against TS Galaxy and other teams that they are a good team.
“They can upset you if your mentality is not right, but the message to players is that if we can’t match their energy, intensity and hunger, we will not win the match. But if we can match all those three, our quality will put us through.”
