Perhaps it's gamesmanship or maybe it is genuine – but Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says Maritzburg United have the edge ahead of their Telkom Knockout cup final tomorrow night in Durban.
Having assessed their squad and his counterpart Eric Tinkler's domestic cup record over the last three years, Mosimane reckons the Team of Choice will be favourites at Moses Mabhida Stadium, though very few will agree.
Tinkler himself this week labelled Sundowns "the best team on the continent" as he braced himself to try overcome the 2016 African champions.
"If those guys can create so many scoring opportunities against a team that is top of the log and winning all the games like Kazier Chiefs, they deserve respect. We don't beat Kaizer Chiefs – they are beating everybody except Maritzburg," said Mosimane, referring to Maritzburg's win over Amakhosi in the semifinal.
"If you don't respect that then you are making a big mistake. We have to respect Judas (Moseamedi), we have to respect all the players they have and they have a very good team – including the number one goalkeeper in Ghana (Richard Ofori), they have enough. They have been winning and they win away."
Mosimane then spoke of Tinkler's most recent triumph in cup competitions with two different teams – Cape Town City three years ago and SuperSport United in 2017.
"The worst thing you can do is look at their position on the log and compare it to us or look at the results the last few years and say we always have an upper hand. Yes, we do, but that is not going to help us on the day. Eric wants the cup, and he has already won two, one at Cape Town City and another with SuperSport United. He shows he is a coach that wins cups," the Sundowns coach explained.
