Mngqithi: Things Are Not Going Our Way
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has admitted that his team has ‘bad luck’ in the domestic cups as they lost a third final in a row.
On Saturday they lost their third final on the trot, the Carling Knockout to the newly promoted side Magesi at Toyota Stadium.
As Mngqithi’s side has been struggling to win domestic cups, they last won a Cup in 2022 when they beat Marumo Gallants in the final of the Nedbank Cup at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
The Brazilians also added the MTN8 in that season and Mngqithi was the co-coach alongside Wydad coach Rulani Mokwena. Last season they lost the Nedbank Cup and MTN8 Cup finals to Orlando Pirates. Mngqithi says things are not going their way when it comes to Cup matches.
“I think we’ve gone to that spell where things are just not going our way in Cup matches,” Mngqithi said.
“And you really would not put fingers because I remember even against Pirates [in the final of the Nedbank Cup] we were 70/30 in terms of ball possession and we had a lot of shots at goal. We did everything right again but unfortunately, in the later stage of the game, they created a goal out of nothing and we lost the final.
“The MTN8 [against Pirates again last season], I think we also did very well there. I wouldn’t blame anything on the team because in football you must know that sometimes you will win and sometimes you will lose.”
Mngqithi also revealed that it is very disappointing to lose a tournament where they scored more goals and conceded less because when he was a coach of Golden Arrows he managed to win it when his team scored more goals.
“It is very unfortunate that in a competition where you have scored 12 goals in four matches and only conceded two – you lose that competition,” he said.
“I won MTN8 with Golden Arrows and I think we scored 11 goals and conceded one goal. This time around we have scored 12, conceded two but we are out without the Cup.”
The only domestic knockout that is left for the Brazilians now is the Nedbank Cup.
