Rulani prays Shalulile, Ribeiro return to face Ahly

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is bracing himself for a tough assignment when they face Al Ahly in the two-legged African Football League (AFL) semifinal.

The Brazilians, who defeated Petro de Atletico 2-0 on aggregate to advance to the semifinal, will host the first leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday, with the return leg in Cairo on November 1.

Mokwena is fully aware that the semifinal will be difficult, hence he’s pinning his hopes on the return of strikers Peter Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro Costa to take on the Egyptian giants. The duo missed Tuesday’s match due to injuries.

“ ...I’m on my knees, I bow my head every night and I pray and ask God to perform the miracles that He performed in the Bible,” he said.

"You have seen Jesus Christ turn water into wine. You’ve seen God give power to Moses to cross the Red Sea, so many miracles that He performed. My prayer to Him is just to perform one more.

“Just like He did when He raised the dead, just a mere touch... my prayer is just that He brings back Lucas and Peter or Thapelo [Morena] as soon as He possible can because for sure, they make a big difference.

“But again, you have to complement the rest of the players that have come in and have shown that we can count on them.

“Gaston [Sirino] has done exceptionally well since his return. He showed incredible humility but that’s life.”

Mokwena expects another tough fixture against Ahly, who lost 2-5 at Loftus in their last visit to SA but went on to claim the CAF Champions League.

"The Al Ahly fixture is always interesting, it’s got a lot, two good teams with very good players,” said Mokwena.

“I watched a little bit of their game away in Tanzania [against Simba in the AFL] 2-2 draw. And then of course, you know they have a very special kid that I love so dearly [Percy Tau] and I’m excited to see [him].

“So, let’s see, it should be an interesting game and the one that see very good teams and we will do our best as always to try to win.”