Mpheni Home Defenders have sent a stern warning to Mamelodi Sundowns ahead of their upcoming Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash.
The Limpopo outfit is the only ABC Motsepe League club left in the competition.
This is their second appearance in the Nedbank Cup after reaching the Last 16 in 2022.
Chairman and coach Vhutshilo Phuravhathu says his team is highly motivated by the opportunity to cause an upset against one of Africa's football powerhouses.
MPHENI HOME DEFENDERS WANTS TO CAUSE UPSET
“For us, this is the most important game in our history to find ourselves playing against the African giants – it's very important for the boys, they don't need any motivation,” said Phuravhathu.
“Already they are motivated that they are playing against Mamelodi Sundowns, they are also motivated by the fact that it's the only game on Sunday and that we [could bel the only team from the lower leagues to beat Sundowns in their history.
“I'm a coach that believes any team is beatable on any day, and even Mamelodi Sundowns can be beaten on any day, and there are teams that respect Sundowns more and that's the reason they are not able to compete with them.
“But if you go there and compete, chances of you being able to come out with a good result is higher than not coming out to compete.”
He continued: “This is a team that is playing more games in the league – because I was looking at their schedule already, they are going to play TS Galaxy before they play us on the 16th,” he noted.
“So you can see their schedule is very, very tight, which means they are not training enough – they only go for recovery, and then preparation for the game.
“So that's a team that, if you can take them to 90 minutes or beyond on a draw, I think they can be caught having heavy legs when we go to extra-time because of the number of games they are playing and competitions they are participating in.”
