Handing Jali captaincy was not easy decision - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Mngqithi

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has disclosed that handing Andile Jali the club captain's armband was a difficult decision on Tuesday night.

The experienced central midfielder led Masandawana to a 3-0 victory over Lamontville Golden Arrows in the MTN8 semi-final second-leg clash and the Tshwane giants advanced to the final after winning the tie 4-1 on aggregate.

Masandawana were without Ricardo Nascimento, Denis Onyango, Rivaldo Coetzee, and Mosa Lebusa, who usually captain the reigning PSL champions so Jali captained the team in their absence at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Mngqithi lauded Jali, 30, for the way he led the team on the pitch, but he also revealed that there were other players, who were considered for the role of captain before a final decision was made.

"He was captain of the team and he did not disappoint. For him to get the man of the match award, we are happy with that," Mngqithi told the media.

"To be honest, it was not a very easy decision. We had too many candidates for the captain's armband, but we felt like we needed a soldier-like mentality today to push the team because it was important for us to go into the game to want to compete and win.

"There was no better person in that space to make sure we galvanise the team and give the team energy to push all the way. He did that very well and we were very excited to see him performing the way he did as a captain."

Peter Shalulile, Themba Zwane, Grant Kekana, Rushine De Reuck and Thabiso Kutumela were the players, who were also considered by the Sundowns technical team which is led by Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena.

"In our team we have too many people who have been captains," the former AmaZulu FC and Chippa United head coach continued.

"We considered Peter, we considered 'Mshishi' [Zwane], we considered Kekana, we considered Rushine De Reuck, we considered Kutumela.

"But we felt AJ might be the right person in the right position to make sure that he takes leadership in that area because in that area we lost Riva [Coetzee] and we had Haash [Haashim Domingo] who is a youngster," he explained.

"The team needed a bit of balance in that space."

Sundowns are set to take on Swallows FC in a PSL encounter on Sunday.