Larsen likens playing Downs to playing Bafana

Magesi coach, Clinton Larsen, has likened facing Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout final to facing Bafana Bafana.

Magesi and Sundowns will face off in the Carling Knockout final at Free State Stadium on Saturday evening.

Six Sundowns players, Ronwen Williams, Khuliso Mudau, Teboho Mokoena, Bathusi Aubass, Thapelo Morena and Iqraam Rayners were in the starting 11 when Bafana thumped South Sudan 3-0 in a dead rubber Afcon qualifier at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday.

“It feels like we are actually playing the national team because last night (Tuesday) I watched six starters from Sundowns in the national team and a few on the bench and if you look at [Marcello] Allende, [Lucas] Ribeiro and [Peter] Shalulile, had they been South Africans, they’d probably be in the national team too,” Larsen said.

“So, you’re not just playing Sundowns, it’s like you’re playing against the national team, and that makes this challenge even more exciting for us as a club.”

Larsen also dismissed the notion that facing Sundowns, who had a number of players away on international duty, will be advantageous to them as they last played when they beat Richards Bay 1-0 in the semifinal of this competition on November 9th.

“I disagree 1 000% [with the view that Magesi will have an advantage because key Sundowns players hardly rested because of the international break]. Sundowns, for the last 10 years, have mastered the art of playing every three days and they’ve been winning, so what’s going to change this time around?” Written by Ntsako Mkhari