Mamelodi Sundowns have revealed which players were considered for the role of captain before a final decision was made.
Mamelodi Sundowns have revealed which players were considered for the role of captain before a final decision was made.
Downs co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi explained that the armband was given to Andile Jali for the MTN8 semi-final clash against Golden Arrows.
Jali led Sundowns to a 3-0 victory in the second leg clash played at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday evening and earned himself the Man of the Match award with a solid display in the middle of the park for the league champions.
Sundowns won the tie 4-1 on aggregate and have reached the final for the first time since 2016.
"He was captain of the team and he did not disappoint. For him to get the man of the match award, we are happy with that.
"To be honest, it was not a very easy decision. We had too many candidates for the captain's armband, but we felt like we needed a soldier-like mentality today to push the team because it was important for us to go into the game to want to compete and win. There was no better person in that space to make sure we galvanise the team and give the team energy to push all the way. He did that very well and we were very excited to see him performing the way he did as a captain," Mngqithi told media after the Arrows victory.
"In our team we have too many people who have been captains. We considered Peter (Shalulile), we considered 'Mshishi' (Themba Zwane), we considered (Grant) Kekana, we considered Rushine De Reuck, we considered (Thabiso) Kutumela, but we felt AJ might be the right person in the right position to make sure that he takes leadership in that area because in that area we lost Riva (Rivaldo Coetzee) and we had Haash (Haashim Domingo) who is a youngster. The team needed a bit of balance in that space."
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