Kekana sees positives ahead of crucial MC Alger test

‘We know why our team is here and we put ourselves in this position and we are the only ones that can take ourselves out of it,’ said the Sundowns midfielder.

As Mamelodi Sundowns take stock of their CAF Champions League campaign, club legend Hlompho Kekana has drawn encouragement from the spirited fightback against Saint-Éloi Lupopo last Sunday.

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Jayden Adams rescued a point for the Brazilians with a second-half header after Enoch Molia had given Lupopo the lead midway through the first half.

Sundowns must win

Although the 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo outfit left Sundowns facing a must-win clash against MC Alger at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon, Kekana is choosing to focus on the positives from their latest outing.

“There are some positives that I can take out of that match, one of them is not losing the match. It was on difficult pitch but I’m happy we didn’t lose the match because had we lost that match, it was over for us,” he said on the Pitchside Podcast.

“I look at this team where they trailed, but equalised and they could have scored another one to win the match away. That tells you that they are still capable of winning football matches but they need to be clinical. Unfortunately, in Champions League games you need to be clinical or you will pay a big penalty.”

Victory over Alger in Tshwane will secure Sundowns a place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, regardless of the outcome between Al-Hilal and Lupopo in Rwanda. Both fixtures will kick off simultaneously, with a spot in the knockout phase at stake.

Kekana – ‘You have to win your home matches’

“We know why our team is here and we put ourselves in this position and we are the only ones that can take ourselves out of it,” Kekana added.

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“As I always say that in the Champions League, you have win your home matches. The match that we lost in Rwanda, we should not have lost it. The same way that we competed in the DRC, we should have done the same thing there but those are the lessons that this group should take going forward because.