THE COACH of Esperance Sportive de Tunis, Patrice Beaumelle, likened playing against Mamelodi Sundowns, who did not have a place in the CAF Champions League final, to playing with the national team.
The French coach said this to the media and accepted that Sundowns are showing signs of not getting involved in the competition this season.
Last weekend, Sundowns won for the first time in Randes, Tunisia, where they won 1-0 in the first leg of the game that will take out the team that will advance to the finals.
Esperance, who have a history of knocking out Sundowns in the same division in the past two seasons, have the opportunity to correct their previous mistake in the second leg match on Saturday at 3 pm, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria.
Beaumelle described Sundowns as a team that can feed many national teams and that is why it is very difficult to face them.
“My players were warned not to try to pressure the Sundowns goalkeeper (Ronwen Williams) when he starts the ball because the greatest danger of this team starts with him,” said Beaumelle.
“I don’t know how they forgot my players and did this once, but that’s when Sundowns scored a goal.
“When you face Sundowns, it’s like playing against the national team. The proof of this is that the team that beat us 1-0 was made up of seven players from Bafana Bafana heading to the World Cup in the coming weeks.
“It is true that we have not thrown in the towel but we understand the difficulties we are facing in the second leg even though (this difficulty) does not mean that we will not get our own opportunities to put ourselves in the best position in Pretoria,” said Beaumelle.
Although everything seems to be in favor of Sundowns, its coach Miguel Cardoso has promised to keep an eye on his players.
“The intensity above what I saw on the road is what I expect when we play at home in front of our fans to whom we owe a lot.
“None of them (players) will get a sign of modesty because I will be keeping a close eye on how they behave before and during the game,” said Cardoso.