Onyango seeks home comfort

Sundowns coach Mosimane will want Wydad Casablanca to find his Ugandan custodian in his element as he prays for maximum points. Photo by Eddie Chicco

KAMPALA- Denis Onyango is again showing the kind of form that made him Africa’s best player last year just in time for the decisive phase of the Caf Champions League.
The Uganda Cranes captain made a handful of saves in the 2018 World Cup qualifying double-header against Egypt which saw both teams win their home respective legs 1-0.
His South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns, will expect more of the same when they face Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca in the Caf Champions League quarterfinals today.

Reigning African champions Sundowns host the 1992 winners at the Lucas Moripe Stadium seeking a first home victory this term and a clean sheet could be crucial. They won at AS Vita (DR Congo), St George (Ethiopia) while drawing at Esperance (Tunisia).
“This is when the real business starts,” Onyango told Sunday Monitor. “We need to play better at home than we have so far to make the semis,” he added.

Mosimane’s wish
Sundowns qualified for the quarterfinals of the competition without winning a game at home.
“I’d like Sundowns to score and not concede,” Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane told www.kickoff.com.
While Onyango is definitely a safe pair of hands, Mosimane could be short of firepower due to recent injuries to forwards Anthony Laffor, Yannick Zakri and Khama Billiat. All three are on the mend.Having fallen short in competitions at home, a successful Caf Champions’ League defence is Sundowns’ last hope of silverware.
Only Egypt’s Al Ahly, DR Congo’s TP Mazembe, twice each, and Enyimba (Nigeria) have won the biggest club title in Africa back-to-back.
There is still a long way from matching that feat for Onyango and Sundwons but a healthy first leg lead to carry to Casablanca for the return encounter next Saturday could come in handy.

Hunted Sundowns
“We’ve become the team to beat this time around, purely based on the fact that we are the defending champions,” Mosimane warned.

“Unlike last season, we didn’t have the ‘champions’ title next to our name, but now clubs have studied our strengths and are now are planning better against us,” he added.
According to reports in Moroccan press, Wydad travelled south on Wednesday rather than Tuesday after their flight was overbooked.

The team was also barracked by the home supporters after being stunned 3-1 by rivals FUS Rabat in their league opener on Sunday.
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