Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says he has so much respect for Magesi coach Clinton Larsen because his journey in football is amazing since he has also coached in lower divisions. 

Sundowns will face Magesi in the final of the Carling Knockout at Toyota Stadium on Saturday. 

Magesi knocked out Orlando Pirates, TS Galaxy, and the KZN-based side Richards Bay on their road to the final. 

As the Limpopo-based side didn’t play a single game at home and they were drawn as an away team again in the final, Mngqithi believes that Larsen is one of the best coaches in South Africa and has so much respect for him ahead of this game on Saturday. “Clinton, his journey is probably as close as possible to my journey in football. I think he has coached in almost all the levels in football, LFA football, development football, SAB League, ABC Motsepe League, and NFD,” Mngqithi said. 

“When he talks I always listen because I know where is he coming from and not just knowledge, but wisdom. So, I have a lot of respect for coach Larsen and I’m going to this match with a coach that I know is not sleeping but trying the best possible solutions to deal with what everybody thinks is favorite. 

“He has always done very well and I’ve shared these stories with the players because I want them to know that they are not playing with just any other coach.

“When he was at Bloemfontein Celtic, I think it was one of those my first seasons here, he took us out of the MTN8 (in the league in the 2014/15 season) with five goals because we were too big and we thought we don’t deserve to concede.” 

The former Golden Arrows coach continued with his special praise to Larsen. “By the time we realized, it was 5-0 and it was the same coach that had won this trophy against Sundowns though it was called Telkom that time (in the 2012/13 season). 

“We know the type of a coach that we are playing against and for me, these are the usually the hard times.” 

Mngqithi had 10 players who were playing in the national teams during the FIFA break that ended on Tuesday this week. The Sundowns coach says in the future the PSL should not allow the Cup matches to take place immediately after the break because this affects teams a lot when preparing for that particular game. 

 “A Cup final just immediately after the international break, for me it’s not good and worse to a club like ours,” he said. 

“But having said that, I’m not leveling this to the PSL because the PSL didn’t know that Sundowns will be in the final of this competition and I think the dates were brought up to us before qualifying for the final. 

 “It is just unfortunate that it happens to us who are in that Cup final and I’m just thinking if it was South Africa that was playing Cameroon on Tuesday where Devine Lunga will be not available immediately. 

“Devine Lunga (who played for Zimbabwe) will be back in the country on Thursday morning when would he train with the team and be able to play in the Cup final? 

“So, based on that I think in the future it will be important just to try and avoid having a Cup final or Cup matches immediately after the FIFA break. 

“It causes unnecessary commotion, but like I said the PSL in this case did not know Sundowns will be in the final and we cannot blame them for us being in the final.” 

 All Sundowns players that were in the Bafana Bafana squad are back in the club now. Mvala suffered an injury in Bafana Camp but Mngqithi said it’s not something they need to worry about and he will be available on Saturday against Magesi in the final. 

 This will be the first time for Sundowns facing Magesi this season. Magesi has already faced the other two big clubs Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs and they defeated Pirates while they played a draw against Amakhosi in the league game.