Smiso Msomi
STELLENBOSCH head coach Steve Barker believes his team’s recent spate of semi-final appearances has contributed to their immense growth in recent years.
Stellies will be taking part in their fifth consecutive semi-final when they battle Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 this week over two legs.
The Cape Winelands-based side will play the Brazilians at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday at 7 pm before hosting the same opposition in the home leg at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
In those five last four appearances, they’ve made the final once and went on to lift the 2023 Carling Knockout Cup last season. Barker spoke to the media in Durban on Wednesday before their trip to the capital.
He expressed that he felt his team had grown immensely due to their arrival in those late stages of the competition and that he was more confident than ever that the door to more cup success would open once more.
“I think most definitely (we’ve grown), last year we played Pirates in a home and away leg. We lost that game because of a red card and late goal but went away and beat them 1-0 and got eliminated on away goals. So we were very disappointed in not making that final and that experience alongside all the other semi-final losses,” he said.
He went on to say: “When you expose yourself to that many semi-finals, you learn from it. We played Sundowns in the Nedbank semi-final, as well, and took them to the wire. So, yes, lessons have been learnt and the more we keep knocking on semi-final doors, the more it's going to be open.”
Stellenbosch have been pushed to play their last home game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium due to the unavailability of pitches in the Western Cape.
The club recently played their two CAF Confederation Cup preliminary matches at the stadium and has made the city a home away from home.
When quizzed about the difficulty of playing Sundowns in Durban instead of the Danie Craven Stadium, Barker expressed that his side have drawn positives from the scenario they find themselves in.
“It's nice to be in Durban because it's a coastal town and we're from a coastal town as well, and weirdly, being forced to play our home games away has done us good because the players have grown a lot closer and together, having to spend a lot of time together travelling and also here in Durban,” he said.
“We've got a familiarity with Moses Mabhida, having played there before, and I requested management to keep it in Durban considering we had already played two matches here recently.”
Stellenbosch will go to this game expected to be slightly sharper than their opponents, having played three games already compared to Sundowns’ one.