Soccer
Sundowns braced for penalty shootout─── MORGAN PIEK 13:08 Fri, 26 Apr 2024
“There’s no pressure on the goalkeepers because we actually enjoy it. But in saying that, if we do go to penalties, we’re confident and a team. We won the last two, so the confidence is high.”
Mamelodi Sundowns are geared and ready to go to a penalty shootout on Friday when they face Esperance in the second leg of the CAF Champions League semi-finals in Pretoria.
Last week Esperance won the first leg 1-0 in Tunisia and are in the pound seats. The four-time champions won the game following a 41st-minute goal by Yan Medeiros Sasse.
The ideal result for the Brazilians will be a 2-0 win to reach the final for just a second time.
‘That’s the plan and that’s what we’ve been preparing for’
The Sundowns goalkeeper and Bafana Bafana shootout hero at the Africa Cup of Nations, Ronwen Williams, said they will go to penalties if they have to.
“I hope that we can wrap the game up in 90 minutes,” said the Downs and Bafana captain.
“That’s the plan and that’s what we’ve been preparing for. We don’t want to go to penalties again. It brings so stress to the technical team, the coach and the players as well.
“There’s no pressure on the goalkeepers because we actually enjoy it. But in saying that, if we do go to penalties, we’re confident and a team. We won the last two, so the confidence is high.”
Friday’s second semi-final at Loftus Versfeld kicks off at 21:00.
