Maritzburg United striker Andrea Fileccia has revealed that he believes Mamelodi Sundowns are the best team on the African continent.
The Brazilians will be up against the Team of Choice on Saturday afternoon in their Nedbank Cup semi-final clash and Fileccia has heaped praise on the opposition, claiming they have already won the league.
Pitso Mosimane’s team sit six points clear of their only challengers Orlando Pirates, with only three games left. Downs will be looking to add success in the Nedbank Cup to their almost inevitable league triumph.
Fileccia, who is the competition’s top scorer with three goals, believes Mosimane’s side are comfortably the best team in South Africa and even the continent.
‘It’s a difficult game for us, Sundowns is maybe the… no, Sundowns is the best team on the continent maybe and for sure the best team in South Africa,’ Fileccia told KickOff.com.
‘It’ll be an important game of the season for us. And me, I’ve been thinking about this game since Monday because the semi-finals are just one leg, playing at home. I’m feeling very excited.
‘They want to win the league; they want to win the Nedbank Cup. Now they know they’ve got six points more than Pirates with three games left. Obviously, they’re going to win the league; they’re not going to give so much for that now and fall to us.
‘They’ll now focus on the Nedbank Cup and we’ve got to play them again three days later [in the league match], so they’ll be very focused on this game.’
However, the ex-Free State Stars forward is looking to add to an already historic season for Fadlu Davids’ team by fighting for cup success.
’ I think winning the cup. Okay, finishing in the top three, that’ll be amazing. But winning something like a cup in 2018 and you can say “Maritzburg the Nedbank Cup champions”, that would be history,’ said the Belgian.
‘It’s not like finishing second, third on the table, but we won something and that’ll be in the club’s history books forever.’