Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane felt let down by some of his players following their defeat to SuperSport United on Wednesday night.
The Brazilians bowed out of the 2019 MTN8 after losing 2-0 to Matsatsantsa in the semi-final second-leg clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
SuperSport reached the final for the third year running after winning the semi-final tie 3-1 on aggregate.
"Firstly, I need to congratulate the referee, he picked up in the second half. He did well. Okay, there are those little things that we as coaches are not happy with but not major. He's one of the younger ones, coming up," Mosimane told SuperSport TV.
"(I also want) to congratulate Kaitano [Tembo], his tactics were very good, spot on. Very awkward for us to get what we want. I think what helped them is that they got an early goal, which we did not want at that time. After that, it was a difficult game for the last 70 minutes."
Two goals by Teboho Mokoena and Jamie Webber helped SuperSport overcome Sundowns, who came into the encounter as the favourites to advance to the final following a 1-1 draw away in the first-leg clash.
"The second goal came, it's normal because we are pushing up we want to equalise. You'll always get a counter-attack like that. They played very well, they are a difficult team to play against, to be honest. You have to understand that," he continued.
"They play differently, they are awkward balls [which] fall for them. It's one of those, what are you gonna do? We should understand that we can't win all the games also. We played okay in the second half, [although] we could have done better."
Mosimane was left to rue Sundowns' first-half performance as he believes some of his players did not turn up on the night.
"In the first half we didn't create many chances. I thought [in the second-half] to freshen the team, let me put on Lebohang (Maboe) and 'Vila' (Sibusiso Vilakazi) but we did not turn up in the first half. A lot of the guys did not turn up, it's okay, it's a Cup game, sometimes you gonna lose," he said.
Mosimane hopes his SuperSport counterpart Tembo goes on to win his first trophy as a coach in the final when they take on Highlands Park at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, 5 October 2019.
"We should give credit, they deserve it. I hope Kaitano goes on to win it. He deserves it. He deserves a break, it's going to be his first one. Why not? Everybody deserves a break, so I hope he gets it [the Cup]," he said.
