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Johannesburg - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Trott Moloto was left delighted by his side's attitude during the Nedbank Cup victory over Orlando Pirates on Sunday afternoon.
The Brazilians needed extra-time to defeat ten-man Pirates after Josephy Kamwendo had been earlier sent-off for two bookable offences.
The Tshwane-based club will now participate in the semi-finals of the competition and Moloto is a happy coach.
Moloto revealed after the match: "There was a positive attitude from the players, especially in the second half. We did the best we could do and we managed to get exactly what we wanted."
Sundowns went 1-0 down to a penalty but Moloto was happy with the response of his charges to come back and turn the game on its head.
He added: "It's football! We had to live with that kind of penalty at that particular stage and that showed strong character from the Sundowns players.
"We had to come with a plan in the second half and do better than we did in the first half. Eventually we did it.
"When we brought on the substitutes it was the right time as we could stretch them on the sides. They were thin at that particular stage."
Moloto's counterpart, Ruud Krol, blamed his side's defeat on their profligacy in front of goal and the sending off of Kamwendo in the second period.
Krol said: "We started the match very well, scored an early goal and we had opportunities to score the second one - but we don't take them.
"The match was influenced by the red card for sure and then our system and shape was gone.
"We could not foresee that we would get the red card and I was confident that we could win this match (beforehand). That red card changed our opportunity (to progress)."
The Dutch mentor admitted that he will work with his players for another two weeks on the training ground as they look to improve certain aspects of their game ahead of the 2010/11 campaign.
He added: "We will (train) for the next two weeks and then we must end our season.
"We will look to next season to see what we must do, but the frame is there and we have some points which we must make better."
A question mark still hangs over the head of Krol with regards to his future at the club, with a large section of the Bucs faithful keen to see him replaced.
The Brazilians needed extra-time to defeat ten-man Pirates after Josephy Kamwendo had been earlier sent-off for two bookable offences.
The Tshwane-based club will now participate in the semi-finals of the competition and Moloto is a happy coach.
Moloto revealed after the match: "There was a positive attitude from the players, especially in the second half. We did the best we could do and we managed to get exactly what we wanted."
Sundowns went 1-0 down to a penalty but Moloto was happy with the response of his charges to come back and turn the game on its head.
He added: "It's football! We had to live with that kind of penalty at that particular stage and that showed strong character from the Sundowns players.
"We had to come with a plan in the second half and do better than we did in the first half. Eventually we did it.
"When we brought on the substitutes it was the right time as we could stretch them on the sides. They were thin at that particular stage."
Moloto's counterpart, Ruud Krol, blamed his side's defeat on their profligacy in front of goal and the sending off of Kamwendo in the second period.
Krol said: "We started the match very well, scored an early goal and we had opportunities to score the second one - but we don't take them.
"The match was influenced by the red card for sure and then our system and shape was gone.
"We could not foresee that we would get the red card and I was confident that we could win this match (beforehand). That red card changed our opportunity (to progress)."
The Dutch mentor admitted that he will work with his players for another two weeks on the training ground as they look to improve certain aspects of their game ahead of the 2010/11 campaign.
He added: "We will (train) for the next two weeks and then we must end our season.
"We will look to next season to see what we must do, but the frame is there and we have some points which we must make better."
A question mark still hangs over the head of Krol with regards to his future at the club, with a large section of the Bucs faithful keen to see him replaced.
