Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns wing-back Lyle Lakay is hoping the Masanadwana faithful come out in their thousands for the crucial second-leg CAF Champions League quarter-final against Petro de Luanda at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Sundowns suffered a rare defeat last weekend in Angola and will be hoping to overturn a 2-1 deficit at Soccer City. They will have the advantage of an away goal and Lakay believes the home support will drive Sundowns into the semi-finals.
"It is important to get that full house and the muscle of support behind you," Lakay said.
"I think you've seen during the week the work that the media team and the club has been putting in with regards to the supporters coming to the stadium. It's very important, you know, like they say it's our 12th man. They encourage us and it helps us."
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With the Covid-19 restrictions eased in South Africa recently allowing 50% capacity at sports stadiums, the former 2010 Fifa World Cup venue will be able to accommodate 47 368 fans on Saturday.
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Sundowns have certainly ramped up their marketing during the build-up this week in a bid to entice fans to attend the game. The Brazilians have made appearances at schools in the Gauteng area, while they also opened up a training session at their Chloorkop base on Thursday to the public. All fans in attendance needed to be vaccinated.
Although Sundowns have virtually sewn up the Premiership title and have annexed the MTN8 Cup already, Lakay claims the Tshwane outfit will deem the season a failure should they not add a second CAF Champions League star this season.
"Our mandate is to win the Champions League. Yeah, I would, for me personally, I would redeem it as we failed," the Bafana star said.
@ZaahierAdams