Ramadan helps Sundowns to focus on task

MAMELODI Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena has stated that arriving in Egypt during the Muslim holy of month of Ramadan has helped his team “maintain our focus” ahead of their all-important Champions League clash against Al Ahly tomorrow.

Having departed from OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday, Sundowns arrived in Cairo on Wednesday at 3am via Addis Abba in Ethiopia.

Predominantly Islamic Egypt was still observing the last day of Ramadan, which requires Muslims to stay without food and drink for from an hour before sunrise to sunset.

The Egyptians celebrated the culmination of a month long of fasting through Eid al-Fitr yesterday.

“The reception has been good. The weather has been accommodating. It’s a very different climate coming into Egypt because the country is still going through Ramadan and there is not as much traffic during the day,” Mokwena said. “It's serene and gives a little more energy to maintain focus and understand that we are here to do a national assignment.

“The atmosphere is not as noisy as you would normally expect in Cairo. It’s good (as) it allows us to find our feet. Our mental stability and focus at this time is very good.”

After some rest and recuperation at the hotel, Sundowns had a training session on Wednesday that lasted until 10.30pm in a bid to rid the players of possible jet lag in preparation for the big clash with the Champions League holders.

“We went to bed to get some rest and try to have a little bit of control of the travel fatigue. We have just come back from our training session where we did a bit of activation from a technical perspective incorporating a bit of injury prevention and have completed a light session,” Mokwena said.

“The team looks energised, focused, and the team knows what we are here for. We want to try in every game and reflect of course the culture we have at Mamelodi Sundowns and the driving culture of that is our work ethic.”