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Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane is excited to come up against one of the best football teams in world football, Spanish giants Barcelona.
The Brazilians will take on Barcelona at FNB Stadium on Wednesday in a friendly between the South African champions and the Spanish champions, according to the club's official website.
The match is part of the Nelson Mandela Centenary celebrations. A number of local and international dignitaries including Fifa president Gianni Infantino will attend this big match.
“The Barca game is for the guys to get experience, to see how far we are, what’s the difference between us and Barca and what’s the difference between the PSL and La Liga,” Mosimane said. “But for me personally it is about seeing how far our tactics are in comparison to Barca. Off course we aren’t going to stop Barca from playing.
They score a goal in every 13-14 minutes. I am talking about against Real Madrid, not Mamelodi Sundowns. So then you can’t have stress. You are happy to play. You say let’s see how long we can last before the first goal comes.”
“It’s not about beating Barca or trying to match ourselves against Barca. It’s just to see our organisation, the way we defend and attack. We want to see how far we are in terms of that regard because we have our own specimen. We’ve got our own software. We play our own way.
Even if we were to take off the yellow jersey and wear a black jersey, you would still say that this team plays like Sundowns. We’ve got our own way of playing and we have mastered that. We don’t play with hope and when we sign players we sign players who fit in the structure.
The Barca match is an opportunity to see the difference between the Rand and the Euro. It’s just an opportunity to have fun and see that if we play the Sundowns way, can Barca stop Sundowns.”
This match comes right after Sundowns were crowned league champions for a record eighth time. On Monday the Brazilians paraded the trophy in Tshwane before getting down to the serious business of preparing for the match against Barcelona.
“It’s not about who will win,” Mosimane said. “I think we all know who will win. We expect Barca to win, not to say that we aren’t confident but the reality has to be there. If we win, it’s unbelievable. You never know, maybe we can rise to the occasion and give them a scare. But I must be honest with you, I am so excited about the game.”
