Africa-Press – South-Africa. Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance looked in good spirits as they wrapped up their preparations for the hugely anticipated Champions League semifinal clash Loftus on Friday (8pm).
The Brazilians take on the Tunisian giants in front of an expected near capacity crowd, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Tunis last week and book a place in their first final since they were crowned champions in 2016.
On Friday, they held their last training session with both sets of players looking in good spirits in front of empty seats, but it will be a different atmosphere on Friday night with Loftus expected to be filled to capacity.
Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena was confident they will overturn the deficit and the result will go in their favour. “We understand it’s only halftime but a halftime we go into with a disadvantage. With commitment, enthusiasm and positivity, we know we can overturn the result.
“The good thing about the second leg is it takes place in front of our people and we want to do it for them and make them happy. We are looking forward to what is going to be a very exciting game,” said Mokwena. “After I watched the first leg, I still have the same feeling that there were good things we did well and those things were controlling certain players of the opposition.
“Those include trying to dominate possession, trying to play a bit higher than we would normally do, trying to defend the set pieces, which we know is a big strength of the opposition, and trying to control the rotations that happen on the left and right.
“There were things we could have done better and Esperance did better than us, like having constant pressure around our box,” Mokwena said.
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