Beaten Pitso lauds 'mature' ref Gomes

Pitso Mosimane had a heavy heart after defending Telkom Knockout champions Mamelodi Sundowns were booted out of the competition at the weekend.

Mosimane did not want to give excuses for the exit, via a penalty shootout against Tshwane rivals SuperSport United at Lucas Moripe stadium on Saturday, but admitted his players may already be thinking about the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan next month.

"I must be honest, they are also thinking about playing in the World Cup. It's big. We will play Telkom again next year. We have something bigger to look forward to. I am not saying we lost because this one it is smaller. I don't want to be misquoted. As long as we are in the PSL, then we will play in the Telkom again," said Mosimane after the defeat.

"I don't want to make excuses when we lose and sound brilliant when we win. I rested the players who played tonight, so they were fresh tonight. They had good rest and they were sharper and they played the way I expected them to play."

Sundowns enjoyed a lot of the possession on Saturday, but their stars were not on song.

Khama Billiat did not have a good game and wasted some good chances to give Downs the lead. Sibusiso Vilakazi had a poor game and the night ended with his penalty getting saved by Ronwen Williams in the shootout, giving SuperSport a 3-1 victory.

Even though Keagan Dolly and Percy Tau showed desire to get the team forward, they just did not have the end product.

One player who deserves credit for a good performance in the Sundowns team is full-back Thapelo Morena.