Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker is of the view that the pressure of winning may have got the better of Mamelodi Sundowns after they stunned them 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal match at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.
With Sundowns having already won the DStv Premiership title, the focus was to go all the way in the Nedbank Cup and CAF Champions League, where they are also in the quarterfinal.
But Barker feels the pressure of trying to win all the competitions made them pay the price after their defeat to them on Saturday.
“I think that pressure of always wanting to win football matches became heavy on their shoulders and I can only wish them the best of luck in the Champions League and we can get behind them in the next coming weeks and months in their journey,” Barker told the media after the game.
“It is not easy for a team to be competing in the Champions League having won the league and they are in the quarterfinal of the Nedbank Cup ahead of the quarterfinal next week [against CR Belouizdad].
“I think they were 24 games unbeaten, that pressure builds and it is not easy to sustain and win all the time. At some stage they were going to have some sort of blip and lately that’s what they are going through, but they are still a good enough team.”
Barker, however, was pleased with his side’s gutsy performance and singled out Iqraam Rayners, who netted a brace in the second half after Lee Langerveldt had scored an own goal to give Sundowns the opener.
“Obviously, a team like Sundowns will dominate possession. They will have their moments and will have their chances, but I do feel that even though they dominated the possessions if you look back at the game, it is not as if our goalkeeper Lee Langerveldt had to make many saves,” he said.
“So I was really proud of the effort of the players, with the way they defended, we always knew our best chance would be in transition and we did create a couple unfortunately, our final pass was not good enough.
“To get early goals in the second half and some sloppy defending play from Sundowns, but if you work as hard as you do, you create chances and your own luck. I think it was one of the situations where our work ethics were different.”
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