Kekana talks about Mamelodi Sundowns ‘culture’ and ‘responsibility’

Mamelodi Sundowns skipper Hlompho Kekana has underlined the emphasis his club has on playing the game “in the right way” while still winning matches.

This is ahead of their Caf Champions League Group B match against Al Hilal, which takes place at the Al-Hilal Stadium in Umm Durma, Omdurman on Friday.

For the South Africans it’s effectively a dead rubber – thanks to a perfect record after four matches in Group B, they already have 12 points and have qualified for the quarter-finals.

This means that some fringe players, including the veteran club captain himself, may get some action on Friday, and Kekana is adamant that the club must be properly represented.

“We are here with a mission, we are here with the responsibility that we’re carrying to represent the club Mamelodi Sundowns,” Kekana told the Sudanese media, as quoted by Idiskitimes.

“We’re here to really play against a very very very good team, a team that has so much history in the game of football, but we are here ready to try and showcase that we always want to prove that we want to play football, in a good manner though.

“It’s a responsibility that we are carrying to try and always play the game in the right way.

“We have created a culture at Mamelodi Sundowns of winning matches and we want to continue winning matches.

“We want to continue going forward with the mentality and obviously that will help us really to look at ourselves as a team that there is still so much improvement that we need to still need to make,” added the 2016 Champions League winner.

Al-Hilal lie second in Group B, above Algerian side Belouizdad on goal difference. DR Congo giants and five-time winners of the competition, Tout Puissant Mazembe, are somewhat surprisingly propping up the standings with just two points from their four matches.