Bafana Bafana legend and former Kaizer Chiefs star Itumeleng Khune has addressed criticism directed at attacker Tashreeq Matthews following a 2-1 defeat to Pyramids in the second-leg final of the CAF Champions League.
After a 1-0 defeat in the first leg played at Loftus Versfeld a week ago, Sundowns had it all to do when they met the Egyptians for the second leg in Cairo on Sunday evening.
Unfortunately for the Brazilians, Pyramids would walk away with a 2-1 win on the night thanks to goals from Fiston Mayele and Ahmed Samy.
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Sundowns pulled one back through Iqraam Rayners, but could score another to collect the win via the away goals rule.
The South African champions had plenty of chances to win the encounter, and perhaps the best of those chances fell to Matthews, who was put through on goal by Lucas Ribeiro but failed to beat the keeper in a one-versus-one situation.
Following the match, sections of supporters have taken to social media to direct criticism at the winger. However, Khune a win for Sundowns was simply not written in the stars.
"Congratulations to Pyramid, an unlucky Ka Bo Yellow nation," Khune said on SABC Sport.
"I think it hurts to see how far they have come as a team, and they only needed that one goal.
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"Obviously everyone will go back and blame Matthews for the one-on-one chance, but again, we were talking about it to say that he is still very young mentally (maturity. If he were a different player, he would have made a better decision and considered that opportunity. We would be talking a different story by now: Sundowns being crowned champions.
"It was not meant to be. It is heartbreaking. Especially to the Yellow Nation and to the whole South African football fraternity."
Sundowns will now turn their attention to the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
