Mokwena: We knew Yanga would be a tough nut to crack in Tanzania

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena admitted it was always going to be difficult to beat Young Africans away from home given the conditions as they had to settle for a 0-0 draw on Saturday.

The Brazilians weren’t able to prepare adequately for the first leg of their CAF Champions League quarter-final tie after seven of their players arrived later in Tanzania than the rest of the squad due to Bafana Bafana commitments.

The game only kicked off at 9pm and Bafana ba Style played in a hostile environment on a tricky pitch at a packed Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, which all contributed to a lackluster performance against Yanga.

Mokwena felt the scoreline still put them in a good position to march on in Africa’s elite club competition as they’re expected to win the second leg at Loftus Versfeld on Friday, April 5.

“It’s tough. I said it before in the [pre-match] press conference and it played out exactly the way we had spoken about it,” Mokwena said.

“Good team, well coached [by former Platinum Stars and Sundowns coach Miguel Gamondi] and they are always going to be tough. I think we can be better but we were alright.

“Under the conditions – the pitch, the humidity, also playing at an odd time, also not having all our players to prepare for the game – alright, it is what it is and now we’ve got to look and see how best we can prepare for the second leg.”

Commenting on the game, he added: “We lacked a bit of compactness and couldn’t really get our foot on the ball and play with a bit more control and dominate the game. We lost too many duels, we lost too many second balls.

“We had to address that at half-time. We looked a bit better in the second half where I think we played with a bit more intensity and tried to go forward.

“But we played against a good team. We knew it was going to be difficult and regardless of what the scoreline would be we were going have to win in Pretoria, and it remains the same.”