OPINION: Sundowns must turn fixture frustration into motivation

While I agree with Miguel Cardoso that the PSL should assist Mamelodi Sundowns by accommodating requests to adjust certain fixtures, the Brazilians must also use this unjust situation as fuel for motivation.

Playing three matches in the space of nine days is simply mind-boggling. Sundowns will face Stade Malien in back-to-back quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League. A domestic clash against Marumo Gallants in the Betway Premiership is sandwiched between those crucial continental ties.

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After the Gallants fixture, Sundowns must travel to Mali for the return leg on March 22. Ideally, the PSL should have afforded the Tshwane giants some breathing space. The first leg against Stade Malien takes place this Friday at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, just three days after their league clash against ORBIT College.

In total, Sundowns will have played four matches in 12 days. According to Cardoso, a request to move the Orbit College fixture to an earlier date was declined, a decision that raises more than a few eyebrows because footballers are human and recovery time matters.

Still, this is not entirely unfamiliar territory because fixture congestion and long hours on the plane are part and parcel of African football. There is a reason the Champions League remains one of the toughest competitions to win in world football.

South African clubs know this reality all too well as the Orlando Pirates side that lifted the trophy in 1995 remains celebrated as the first team from the country to conquer the continent. Sundowns later etched their own name into African football folklore when they triumphed in 2016 under former coach Pitso Mosimane.

Nearly a decade has passed since that historic triumph for the Yellow Nation, arguably the most significant achievement in the club’s modern era. To this day, supporters still chant Mosimane’s name in appreciation of that unforgettable campaign.

Mosimane often described that run as a victory against all odds, and the triumph felt even sweeter because of the adversity they overcame. The current Sundowns squad would do well to draw inspiration from that class of 2016.

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Complaining is a gateway to finding excuses in case of failure. While the PSL could certainly do more to ease the burden, Sundowns may ultimately have to embrace the challenge and prove their pedigree the hard way.