Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says he is confident that the fans of the club will come in numbers to fill up the stadium against Magesi on Saturday afternoon. 

The Brazilians will face Dikwena Tsa Meetse in the final of the Carling Knockout this afternoon at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein. 

On Saturday morning, the PSL announced that the tickets are still available, with 60 percent of them having been sold, raising doubts whether the game will be sold or not later in the day. This has seen fans of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs laughing at Sundowns, who released footage of Bathusi Aubaas on Friday to urge fans to buy the tickets.

Chiefs and Pirates fans said their clubs have never done such before when it comes to the final as their tickets are always sold out, just like it was in the MTN8 final earlier this year.  

Sundowns only played in a fully packed stadium against Kaizer Chiefs in the quarter-final of the competition earlier this month. 

However, Mngqithi says all Sundowns painted an economical picture and venue destination. “We have not complained as Sundowns about our supporters, we are very happy and we know they will be there,” Mngqithi said. 

“Whatever amount is enough to make us win the match. We always want to have those can afford because the climate economically is not very good. It’s not easy for everyone to attend matches everywhere in the country because financially people are constrained. 

 “So, it is important to also accept the reality that sometimes people don’t go to the stadium not because they don’t want to be there. It’s because they don’t have the resources to be there. 

 “To come to Bloemfontein as somebody from Pretoria who is not working because people are not working and sometimes it’s very difficult.” 

However, Mngqithi believes that they will fill up the stadium on Saturday afternoon. “I’m very confident we’ll have a very good crowd in Bloemfontein from our yellow nation because they have never let us down and they want us to win this one,” he said. 

 “So, I’m very confident they will come in numbers. Wait and see, they will all come in numbers to support the club.” 

Meanwhile, the former Golden Arrows tactician also added that the gap between Premier League and NFD is small considering that Magesi managed to reach the final of Carling Knockout with players that were playing in the NFD last season, while other teams were using players that have been playing in the Premier League. 

“The gap between the NFD and the PSL is very small. Sometimes the gap between the ABC Motsepe League and the PSL can be very small,” Mngqithi added. 

 “I’ve seen a lot of games and sometimes I even say a lot of players in South Africa are overrated because when you look at them very closely like Magesi, you look at their squad and it was their NFD squad even though they have some few players that once played in Premier League. 

“Their team is the team that they had in the NFD and that is a very strong team. That is a very strong team and I can even bring to you big teams and put it in front of you and say man-on-man, just look at this and look at this and say which of the two is stronger than the other. 

 “Then you will be surprised and say ‘I never thought Magesi has got maybe stronger personnel than I thought.'” 

These two clubs will be facing each other for the first time as Magesi got a promotion this season. However, Magesi coach Clinton Larsen will be not facing Bafana Ba Style for the first time as he once shocked Sundowns in 2012 in the final of this competition and was known as Telkom Knockout then.