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Mngqithi initially suggested that he would prefer Sundowns players to be reserved or to have a better communication on their utilization, in Bafana matches that are not important, given their busy schedule. South Africa, before their final two AFCON qualifiers had already qualified and head coach Hugo Broos had six Sundowns players - Ronwen Williams, Khuliso Mudau, Mothobi Mvala, Aubrey Modiba, Teboho Mokoena, and Bathusi Aubaas starting in a 2-0 win over Uganda. He retained Williams, Mudau, and Mokoena in the line-up and started Thapelo Morena and Iqraam Rayners in the 3-0 win over South Sudan.
After having a meeting with Broos prior to the FIFA break, the 53-year-old has mellowed his stance and somewhat shifted the blame of playing a cup final four days after the international dates to the PSL. "It's just an unfortunate situation, to be honest, because I wouldn't want to blame their coaches in the national teams, because believe me, if I was the national team coach, I would have used my best players," Mngqithi said in a Carling Knockout final pre-match press conference. "Because we want to build on that winning momentum.
You want to make sure that you don't start opening cracks in your team and people start to see some of your shortcomings when some players are not there. "So, it's something that is very difficult to ask of any coach to not use his team in an important fixture that is in front of so many people watching. It is unfortunate," Mngqithi said.
"But personally, I think there's nothing wrong with playing league matches after the FIFA break, because we've got maybe three or four days after that. But it's just that the cup final immediately after the FIFA break, for me, it's suicidal and worse to a club like ours." Other Sundowns players who were on international duty included Peter Shalulile for Namibia and Zimbabwe's Divine Lunga.
"I'm just thinking if it was South Africa playing Cameroon yesterday [Tuesday], where Divine Lunga is, because Divine Lunga will only be back in the country on Thursday morning and when would he train with the team and be able to play in a cup final?" the former Golden Arrows coach asked. "So based on that, I think in future it would be important to try and avoid having a cup final or cup matches immediately after the FIFA break, because it causes unnecessary commotion," Mngqithi added. The Brazilians will travel to Free State Stadium for the Carling Knockout final against Magesi on Saturday evening.
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