We can’t have our cake and eat it – Pitso

Mamelodi Sundowns have no divine right to win every game, but are probably preoccupied by next week’s trip to Japan and so ripe for the picking in the Premier Soccer League, says coach Pitso Mosimane.

Sundowns lost a second Premier Soccer League game of the season as they went down 2-0 to struggling Ajax Cape Town at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night in a match in which Mosimane admitted his side were outplayed. “We can’t have everything,” he said.

“We have to understand we can’t have our cake and eat it.

“We lost to a good team, but perhaps it was not the right time to play Ajax because they needed the game more than us. And it showed on the pitch. “They deserved to win. “I like the way their coach analysed our team – it’s very good to find coaches doing their work and I was impressed.

“That’s our job. We get paid for that.”

Sundowns were battling‚ Mosimane said‚ to focus on their PSL commitments.

“We are just in a different space – our players are thinking differently,” he said.

“They used to talk PSL stuff but yesterday I heard them going through the teams [to] play in the next year’s Champions League and their discussions are now: ‘Al Ahly is in‚ Zamalek is not‚ Zesco is out.’

“They deserve it and we should appreciate what has been achieved.

“It’s very difficult for them to focus on the PSL right now.

“The Club World Cup in Japan is big for us. We are living in

another space but we wanted it so we have no excuses.”

Sundowns host Free State Stars‚ another club in the basement of the Absa Premiership standings‚ in their last outing before heading to the Club World Cup.

Mosimane said he would hand Colombian striker Leonardo Castro his first start of the season in tomorrow’s game at Loftus Versfeld.