Neo Maema says it is important for Mamelodi Sundowns to go the whole season unbeaten in the DStv Premiership.
The South Africa top-flight champions, who won the league with six games to play, are on a 26-match unbeaten run – that stretches to 50 league games, if you go back through the last campaign.
They currently have four games left to play, against Royal AM, TS Galaxy, Stellenbosch and Cape Town City, ahead of taking on Orlando Pirates in the final of the Nedbank Cup.
Despite having dominated the Premier Soccer League for the past seven seasons, Maema explained that the club must maintain their high standards, to take into next season.
The Brazilians most recently beat Royal AM 1-0 at the weekend and face the same opponents again on Tuesday.
Maema said in the Citizen: “It’s going to be important to keep the consistency in the last few games because we want to break our own record of last season to show that there’s some kind of progression in our game.
“We saw Bayer Leverkusen unbeaten in 48 games and they also clinched their league title and it’s a goal we can reach. It’s up to us to keep the consistency and make sure that we don’t lose games where we know that everything is against us.
“We’re in control of everything and we can make sure that we win our games so that if we’re unbeaten 50 games, then it can go to 60 games.
“It’s possible with this talented group of players. It’s a privilege to play for such a big club and to represent these beautiful supporters and from our side, we can only reach our goals to make sure that they are proud of us.”
Maema added that is it isn’t easy to keep winning after having already claimed the title.
“After being champions, there are always going to be difficult matches. Especially, when we have already wrapped up the title and this match is no different to any other match. We just want to win and raise the confidence in camp to make sure we’re ready for what is going to be a difficult final,” he explained.