Mamelodi Sundowns' coach Alex Bapela has revealed that he had to slow down his players at training ahead of their MultiChoice Diski Challenge semifinal, because of over excitement.
The Brazilians take on Mpumalanga Black Aces at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, kickoff is at 12pm.
“The preparations are going well. I came to realise something, I think the players are pushing themselves too much towards the game. They want it so much, the edge is too much.
“That’s why we decide to give them a day off (on Wednesday), just to catch their breath because they want it so much," Bapela told supersport.com.
Sundowns defeated Polokwane City 2-0 in the quarterfinals at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, Durban a fortnight ago. The coach said despite the uncontrollable excitement from his players, he's confident that they regain their focus.
“The mood is so amazing, it’s very high. That’s why I’m saying it’s scary. Playing like that is so scary, that’s why we need to make sure that their feet are on the ground. And they are taking things like any other game,” he said.
The Pretoria side recorded a 3-0 victory over Aces when they met in the group stage in October. Bapela hopes his boys will go to the match not thinking about that result.
“I remember we played at TUT, that’s the danger of it. Because if the players are going to look at it like this is the Aces that we’ve beaten 3-0 and then complacency will creep in. And once you plan with complacency, you likely to lose.
“So I’d love to make sure that they forget the previous games as much as possible because it counts for nothing. What counts is what will happen on Sunday,” continued the club's legend.
The coach also urged the team's Port Elizabeth-based supporters to come and get behind the boys on Sunday.
“I’m happy because we were at Attridgeville with the players seeing our team, the senior boys beating Moroka Swallows comfortable. It looks like it’s going to be Sundowns’ year.
“So our supporters, I know the one’s from PE didn’t travel to Atteridgeville to see the seniors boys, let them just come to see how the junior boys play. Because they play exactly like the senior team,” he concluded.
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