Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi speaks highly of Sudanese side Al Hilal whom the Brazilians beat 2-0 in a CAF Champions League Group B match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday evening.
Mngqithi still believes that Al Hilal are a dangerous side despite their failure to score on Saturday.
Sundowns defender Mosa Lebusa and striker Kermit Erasmus scored for the Brazilians.
“I think organisationally what we were hoping for we managed to achieve. We did not want them to be more in our half because aerially they are very strong,” Mngqithi said.
“Every time they got a set-piece you could see it was always going to be difficult for us. I think after scoring the first goal we put our foot off the pedal.
“They started coming at us with a lot of corner kicks, free kicks, throw ins in and around our defensive third and that nearly caused us problems. Again we regrouped in the second half. This is an awkward team, not many people know that this is a very dangerous team as well.”
Al Hilal coach Zoran Manojlovic, meanwhile, congratulated Sundowns for the win.
“Congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns, they were the better team. First half we played very bad. Second half we were a little bit better,” Manojlovic said.
The Brazilians are going to play against CR Belouizdad in Algiers, Algeria, on Tuesday, 23 February while Al Hilal will be at home to TP Mazembe.
