TS Galaxy head coach Adnan Beganovic has stated that Mamelodi Sundowns may well be the best team on the entire African continent, reflecting on the challenges his side faced after suffering a heavy defeat to the defending champions.
Beganovic, who took over the reins at TS Galaxy after initially joining the club as an assistant to Sead Ramovic, has seen a transformation in the Rockets’ fortunes since his appointment.
While Ramovic and assistant Mutsafa Kodro moved on to new ventures with Young Africans and now CR Belouizdad, Beganovic stayed on in his new role, accepting an offer from club president Tim Sukazi. Meanwhile, Nerman Basic assumed the role of Technical Director, contributing input to the first-team setup.
Under Beganovic’s leadership, TS Galaxy enjoyed a remarkable 12-match unbeaten run after Ramovic’s resignation. However, their momentum has been halted in recent weeks, with three consecutive losses — an unexpected defeat to Durban City in the Nedbank Cup, a setback against Stellenbosch on home soil and a heavy 4-1 drubbing by the hands of Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Reflecting on the defeat to Sundowns, Beganovic acknowledged the difficulty of overcoming such a formidable opponent: “My opinion is… when you concede four goals against Sundowns, it’s like fantasy to come back to score three goals to come back to make it 4-4 and we need to be honest, Mamelodi Sundowns is the best team, maybe not in South Africa but whole of Africa,” he said.
“And then I know that I respect that. The club invests so much in players, in their facilities, and everything that Sundowns have in this moment – and then play always, semi-finals, finals of competitions, going to the FIFA Club World Cup.
“It talks about a club on a high level and then if you have 11 players on the field, it’s like we need to put more energy as an opponent to get something, you need to be on your top, win every duel, fight 100%, even if you [lose momentum] you lose the game easily.”
TS Galaxy, currently sitting in sixth place in the league standings, have made notable strides under Beganovic’s leadership. However, with the team just six points off the top three, he remains optimistic about their potential to compete in the league.
That said, Beganovic acknowledged that circumstances during the match against Sundowns, such as Victor Letsoalo’s early red card, made it nearly impossible to secure a positive result at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
“Sundowns have quality players who can finish a game in seconds, we know that we agree with that, we just have to focus on ourselves, put all focus on our team and then we wish to press, we wish to have the ball but sometimes your opponent doesn’t allow that,” he continued.
“They have all possession, create opportunities and it becomes easier [with one man down], that’s it, I’m honest – we didn’t have any chance against Sundowns, the red card destroyed us and then we couldn’t find any solution to attack or score goals.
“In the end I want to say it’s been a beautiful time, we can’t complain about anything, we reached what we wanted [when appointed], now we need to finish the season how we want, to be in the top eight spot, that’s what we want.”