Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is warning their trip to Angola at the weekend will be a tough assignment as they begin the defence of their African Champions League crown.
Sundowns, who received a bye in the first round, take on Wiliete in the first leg of their second round tie in Lubango on Sunday, with the return in Pretoria next Friday October 23.
“It's important that people understand this is could be (a game) of the same standard as a group match in Champions League,” Cardoso said.
“We are speaking about the team that is leading the Angolan championship. That is a team that we have to have a lot of respect for. And when you speak about respect for the opponent, it means level of preparation that we need to have, we need to take ourselves to the limits on the preparation, on the commitment, and also on the way we're going to face the two matches.”
Sundowns will be going on a charter plane to Angola because the domestic airlinks are precarious.
“I'm very thankful to my club that understood that we needed to have a charter to travel to Angola.”
Cardoso said Sundowns had sent several spies to watch Wiliete play in the GiraBola and that they had problems catching flights from Luanda to other domestic destinations because the internal flight network in Angola can be unrealiable with delays and cancellations
“We could not risk not to travel on a charter because it's quite tricky to fly inside Angola. So, we needed to control that. So the club made that effort, so we're going to fly on a charter. It allows us also to come back immediately after the match to South Africa. And then Angola is not that far, so we can train have dinner in the hotel and that is easy enough for us to manage,” the coach explained.
Wiliete are based in Benguela but because their stadium, which was newly built for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals, is not longer fit for international matches, Sunday’s first leg is being played in Lubango, which is further south.
“As I said a few days ago, it's a roller coaster, but we like to be on that roller coaster. We just need to be very focussed so that we take it up to the end in the right way. It will be difficult qualifying round and we have to be on the best level to make it the right way,” Cardoso added.