Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is worried about injuries and the recovery of his players ahead of the highly anticipated African Football League encounter.
Sundowns will lock horns with Egyptian giants Al Ahly in a semi-final clash at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday.
After knocking out Petro de Luanda of Angola in the quarter-finals via a 2-0 aggregate win on Tuesday, the Brazilians booked themselves a hot date with the all-conquering Red Devils of Cairo.
The second leg of the fixture will be played in Egypt next week.
Guaranteed $R1.7m windfall
For reaching the last four of the tournament, the DStv Premiership champions have guaranteed themselves a sugar-coated $1.7-million (R30-million).
If they reach final and win the tournament, they will pocket $4-million, hence Masandawana are going for the win, by hook or crook.
The Pretoria-based side has played many games without key players such as Lucas Ribeiro, Peter Shalulile and Thapelo Morena due to injuries.
Mokwena shared that he would like to see his star players back in the field, especially for the all-important encounter on Sunday.
Mokwena prays for return of star players
“I pray for God to perform a miracle. My prayer to Him is to bring back Ribeiro, Shalulile and Morena as soon as possible, because they make a big difference,” Mokwena said.
“But we have to give compliments to the rest of the players who have come in and shown that we can count on them,” said Mokwena.
Besides the injuries’ setback, Mokwena stated that he is looking forward to what will be an interesting and entertaining encounter against Africa’s club of the century.
Al Ahly’s forward Percy Tau is a Sundowns product, and he had a fantastic game against his former club when the two sides met in the CAF Champions League.
“An Al Ahly fixture is always interesting. They have got really good players. I have watched a little bit of their away game in Tanzania, where they drew 2-2 against Simba FC.
“It should be an interesting game and one that pitches two very good teams. We will do our best to win the game,” he said.
