Mamelodi Sundowns' depth was put to the test at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday night. They passed a number of challenges thrown their way but failed the main exam – crashing out of the Carling Knockout Cup at the hands of TS Galaxy following more than two hours of football.
The Rockets stunned Sundowns 5-4 on penalties after the Brazilians came back from 2-0 down to force the match to extra time with a late equaliser from Gaston Sirino. The Brazilians played one of the two hours of football a man down after Bongani Zungu was sent off on the hour mark for breaking Bernard Parker's leg.
That was not the only setback that Sundowns had to overcome. The Brazilians were without eight regulars, including last season's joint top goalscorer Peter Shalulile, who is nursing an injury. The last campaign's Goalkeeper of the Season Ronwen Williams, Defender of the Season Khuliso Mudau, Midfielder of the Season Teboho Mokoena and club captain Themba Zwane were part of the seven who were doing international duty with Bafana Bafana.
Sundowns played without their Bafana contingent to give them time to prepare for their African Football League campaign, which starts against Petro de Luanda in Angola on Saturday. The Brazilians' participation in the lucrative competition with prize money of just over R75 million was in doubt after the Premier Soccer League's (PSL) board of governors voted against allowing them to play due to the havoc it would have on fixture scheduling.
The PSL eventually gave in, but that meant pushing forward Sundowns' cup game, forcing them to play without their Bafana contingent. The club accepted the compromise as they have enough depth to compete on both fronts.
The B team Sundowns fielded in Mbombela was still much
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