Pitso praises players’ work ethic in success
MAMELODI Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has praised the work ethic of his players, who sealed the 2015-16 Absa Premiership title with a 1-0 win against Platinum Stars at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday.
Sundowns had already wrapped up the championship with their 3-0 victory against Pretoria University with two matches to spare 2½ weeks ago.
Their win against Stars took the Brazilians to a record 71 points, breaking last season’s mark of 69 set by Kaizer Chiefs.
Downs scored 54 goals, the second-highest in the 16-team era of the PSL after Kaizer Chiefs in 2004-05 with 55.
Mosimane said that while his expensively assembled team were the strongest lineup on paper, Downs’ hunger and work ethic played as much a role in their record-breaking season.
“It looks good and it sounds good to see the table. To get 22 wins out of 30 is a big number. And we only had three losses,” he said.
“We’re a little disappointed because we’re one point short. When everyone was talking about 60 points, our target was 72.
“We could have scored more goals but the points are more important. We are reaping the rewards. We are happy with what we’ve achieved.
“The guys did well. We really worked hard. The guys ran and ran. I have checked the physical data of our team, and no one ran more than us.
“So it’s not only about the talent. It’s team chemistry, it’s discipline. We played more games than anyone. We played eight games in Caf’s Champions League and Confederation Cup.”
Khama Billiat scored Downs’ 24th-minute winner against Stars to take his total to 13 league goals. The Zimbabwean is the clear favourite to win the PSL’s player of the season award, and might look to expand his horizons with an overseas transfer.
Mosimane said Downs, as they have with Bongani Zungu’s imminent transfer in the off-season to Portuguese Primeira Liga club Vitoria de Guimaraes, would not stand in Billiat’s way if European clubs come knocking.
“Look, if Bongani Zungu goes to Europe, it’s brilliant,” the Downs coach said.
“You can’t stop Khama from going if there are millions of euros coming from that side. He has to go. Why not? He has had a fantastic season.”
Stars clung on to an impressive third place despite the defeat, qualifying for the Confederation Cup.
Dikwena coach Cavin Johnson said that with limited resources at his club he would look to promote players from Stars’ youth system and reserves.
“I’m very excited to play in Africa. It gives you a lot of experience, which helps you to compete better on the local front,” he said.
“I don’t expect to be busy in the transfer market. We will go into the transfer market around the corner for us, which is our academy. We have a lot of good players who have done well in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team.
“We were one of the youngest teams in the MDC. And those are the players we’re looking to bring into our team.
“You’ll probably see seven to eight of those youngsters come into the senior team,” he said.
