Mamelodi Sundowns started first pre-season tour with a 2-1 loss to German third division club SV Sandhausen on Tuesday evening.
A number of fringe players for Masandawana earned a start, including goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse, Zuko Mdunyelwa, Lesiba Nku, Lebohang Maboe with youngsters Siyabonga Mabena, Ntando Nkosi and Malibongwe Khoza featuring too.
Sundowns weren't able to hit the ground running possession wise, but instead a number of stray passes led to a sufficient loss of forward momentum.
READ | Sundowns announce pre-season opponents
The German club enjoyed strong opening couple of minutes and pushed forward repeatedly before managing to draw Pieterse to a save through persistent penetration up top.
Pieterse was put to work again on the half-hour mark where he had to lean back to palm a first-time volley from the edge of the area by Tim Maciejewski behind for a corner-kick.
From the subsequent corner, the deadlock came as a defensive scramble caught Masandawana napping allowing the self-same Maciejewski the easiest of finishes.
In the second half, Sundowns looked to go level and made a number of changes with amongst others flying full-back Thapelo Morena introduced.
Morena didn't waste time to impact proceedings but put on the after-burner on the right-side and cutback for Tashreeq Matthews to curl in the top corner.
However, the German club managed to bounce back and regained the lead a persistent spell of pressure saw Dominicn Baumann finished off a corner.
The Brazilians weren't able to mount any comeback on this occasion and unfortunately started their first pre-season outing with defeat.