Sundowns instability not good for SA football – Doctor Khumalo

Sundowns are going through a serious of internal strife, having been disposed of at the summit of the Betway Premiership by Orlando Pirates and are in danger of elimination in the CAF Champions League.

The Brazilians have been the backbone of Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos’ squads for the past few years and played a prominent role in the AFCON 2023 bronze medal and the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns.

Khumalo hopes the Pretoria-based side can overcome its challenges...

The biggest scandal to have come out of Sundowns this week is the alleged leaking of the club’s training and tactical information by one of their analysts, Mario Masha, to their former head coach, Rulani Mokwena, before their crucial Champions League match in December.

This has led the club to suspend Masha. Asked if this is the opportune time for rival clubs like Pirates and Chiefs to take advantage of the Sundowns crisis, this is how Khumalo feels...

"I would want to see any team in the PSL challenge Sundowns without problems. Why do you have to wait for them to be crippled in order to take advantage of that, because then you're not at the best then. You need to be ready to fix yourself to face them when they don't have internal problems.

"Sundowns are going through a phase and I hope that they overcome their football problems."

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Starting from within the Sundowns fan base, there’s division in the country, especially with Mokwena coming back to try and secure a quarterfinal berth with MC Alger in the Champions League last eight, but Khumalo says as a South African, he would love to see the local team advancing.

Meanwhile, this is also a big week for Chiefs as they travel to Egypt later today for their all-important CAF Confederation Cup game against Zamalek.

The two teams will play their final Group D game in Ismailia on Saturday, with Amakhosi currently leading the group and needing just a draw to confirm their place in the quarterfinals. Khumalo shares what has been good about the team in this campaign.

"What is good about Kaizer Chiefs this season is that they don't approach the domestic games in the same way as the CAF games, because the coach alluded to the fact that most of the Kaizer Chiefs boys don't have the kind of experience to play the CAF tournament, and it's been a work in progress.

"The coach told them not to underestimate themselves, and that the players made it possible for Chiefs to go top of the table because nobody else could've done that.

"They don't have to put themselves under pressure when they go to play Zamalek, and they should know that the fans back home are behind them."