As Mamelodi Sundowns prepares to go all the way and win the CAF Champions League this season, goalkeeper Denis Onyango has revealed that they have ticked all the boxes to make sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes they did last year.
Sundowns are firm favourites to lift the title this season. They remain undefeated in the competition and lead Group A with 10 points following successive victories against defending champions Al Ahly.
“You learn from your mistakes and we believe that we learned from last season's mistakes and we are hoping that we may be one or two steps closer to the final,” Onyango told the media during the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal draw.
“I made a lot of errors last season... [including] the goal that I conceded in Egypt [in the first leg in their 0-2 defeat]; and if I didn’t learn from that I wouldn’t be a better goalkeeper.
“If you don’t learn from them, you will make the same mistakes in the campaign and cost a team. We try to remind ourselves of the importance of winning the Champions League.
“A lot of guys are hungry for the Champions League and we will see how far we can go the moment we get to the quarterfinals.”
Although they remain one of the favourites to win the title, the 36-year-old goalie insists they won’t allow that to get into their heads to avoid any surprises.
“Champions League is very unpredictable. You may think that you are ready for it and it will disappoint you,” he said.
“But we need to support the young ones who are coming in from different clubs and have not been in that stage. If you look at other teams in other groups, it shows that the Champions League is strong.
“We need to be humbled as players and as a team to respect the game. It doesn’t mean that winning a lot of games and beating the champions [Al Ahly] means we need to disrespect the other teams.
“We need to go to Sudan and get results if possible and focus on the next game because we know that the moment you disrespect the game, you will be disrespected by the game as well.
“We just need to give our best and see how far we can go and try to win as many games as we can.”
Onyango determined to avoid last season's CAF mistakes
'Beating Al Ahly doesn't mean we must disrespect other teams'
Image: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
As Mamelodi Sundowns prepares to go all the way and win the CAF Champions League this season, goalkeeper Denis Onyango has revealed that they have ticked all the boxes to make sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes they did last year.
Sundowns are firm favourites to lift the title this season. They remain undefeated in the competition and lead Group A with 10 points following successive victories against defending champions Al Ahly.
“You learn from your mistakes and we believe that we learned from last season's mistakes and we are hoping that we may be one or two steps closer to the final,” Onyango told the media during the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal draw.
“I made a lot of errors last season... [including] the goal that I conceded in Egypt [in the first leg in their 0-2 defeat]; and if I didn’t learn from that I wouldn’t be a better goalkeeper.
“If you don’t learn from them, you will make the same mistakes in the campaign and cost a team. We try to remind ourselves of the importance of winning the Champions League.
“A lot of guys are hungry for the Champions League and we will see how far we can go the moment we get to the quarterfinals.”
Although they remain one of the favourites to win the title, the 36-year-old goalie insists they won’t allow that to get into their heads to avoid any surprises.
“Champions League is very unpredictable. You may think that you are ready for it and it will disappoint you,” he said.
“But we need to support the young ones who are coming in from different clubs and have not been in that stage. If you look at other teams in other groups, it shows that the Champions League is strong.
“We need to be humbled as players and as a team to respect the game. It doesn’t mean that winning a lot of games and beating the champions [Al Ahly] means we need to disrespect the other teams.
“We need to go to Sudan and get results if possible and focus on the next game because we know that the moment you disrespect the game, you will be disrespected by the game as well.
“We just need to give our best and see how far we can go and try to win as many games as we can.”
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