Ngwenya banks on Sundowns’ away goal

Mamelodi Sundowns legend Manqoba Ngwenya has backed his side to beat Wydad Casablanca in the return leg of the African Football League (AFL) final at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.

Sundowns have to overturn a 1-2 deficit from the first leg when they host them in the return leg.

A 1-0 win will be enough for Masandawana to win the final because they have an away goal, and Ngwenya is confident they learned from their mistake when they drew with Wydad 2-2 in the CAF Champions League semifinal return leg last season to crash out of that competition.

“That away goal is very crucial for Sundowns. I think it was important that they get something from the game,” Ngwenya explained to Sowetan yesterday.

“I’m very optimistic that they will win the return leg at home. We are capable. We are a strong team. We have a goal and I think we should try to score early.

“We are better than them and we are playing at home. We just need to go out there and find a way of scoring goals and beat these guys.”

Sundowns also saw their midweek DStv Premiership match against AmaZulu postponed from today to December 6 to allow them enough time to prepare for this final.

Ngwenya added this will help them a lot as they had the whole week to recover from the first leg. “I think that will help them a lot in terms of getting the full team back... the recovery of the muscles from the guys that played in the first leg,” he said.

“It was a very taxing match, so they needed it [postponement]. Wydad have also postponed their domestic game to focus on the final. I think that will make for a good match. Both teams are well-rested and it is going to be fireworks.

“I’m proud of how Sundowns handled that pressure playing in North Africa in that type of atmosphere. Hopefully, this time we can get one over Wydad. We won’t forget how they hurt us the last time in the Champions League semifinal and it's time for a revenge now.”