Bidvest Wits assistant coach, Paul Johnstone, has admitted that Mamelodi Sundowns' CAF Champions League win has motivated South African teams to pay more attention to continental competitions, but has refuted speculation that Wits took the competition less seriously in the past.
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The Brazilians were the first South African team to win Africa's premier competition in over 20 years, which Johnstone has said has put the more focus on the competition for other teams.
"Naturally, because Sundowns won it (the CAF Champions League), it means that it puts African competition more in the spotlight than it has been in the past," he told Soccer Laduma. "So, it's never been a situation where we've (taken it less seriously), although I know there's been a lot of speculation about this. They say that we've taken CAF less seriously than we have competition in the league. But now we've reached a point where we're far more competitive in the league and we have more depth in the squad, so that makes it easier."
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He then went on to discuss today's match against Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League, describing the game as "unbelievable".
"Now we get the opportunity to play against Al Ahly, which is huge," he added. "They're one of the biggest teams in Africa and Gavin even said it in the team talk, this is our chance to showcase our skills against one of the biggest teams in Africa. It's unbelievable, and people don't tend to realise that, so it's a great opportunity for everyone at the club."
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Today's game will get underway at 15:30 in the Bidvest Stadium.
