Though they are still soaked in the hangover of being PSL champions yet again Sundowns will host Ghanaian club Medeama SC in the first leg of their play-off round at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday (18h00), with the return leg scheduled for May 17-18 in Tarkwa.
The aggregate winners proceed to the group stages draw, taking place on May 24.
For all the belittlement that this competition gets with some labelling it as a trivial consolation of the real deal – the Champions League – Kekana believes it is a worthy cause that keeps their dream of seeking silverware in Africa alive.
“As players we want to play in competitions were there are big teams, were there is competition. You need to test yourself with the big guns,” reasons Kekana.
And true to Kekana’s word there are plenty big guns in this competition – Esperance de Tunis, Etoile du Sahel, TP Mazembe and Al-Merrikh are all teams that are still considered powerhouses on the continent despite being in the ‘shadow competition’ this year.
“This is what we do as Mamelodi Sundowns. We want to apply ourselves in every match and try to win matches. It is a good feeling to win matches and for us to go to Africa every now and then is a lesson that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. I personally love to go to those places and try to see how far I am in terms of the character that I have. I am going to be a father one day so I need to be a tough man. These are games that we still need to play to gauge how far we can compete on the continent so there is absolutely no way we will be looking down on this competition,” says Kekana.
The Brazilians will be pleased to hear that Medeama are battling in the Ghana Premier League where they are 10th with a third of the season played and have recently been struck by internal strife with their head coach Tom Strand reportedly going AWOL.
It has been reported that Ghana Football Association technical director Oki Akenteng has since been brought in.