Sundowns cruised to a record 24-0 victory over Powerlines under former coach Johan Neeskens in 2012, but Gawe is confident that will not happen to them. In fact he believes they have what it takes to give the former African champions a run for their money in Pretoria.
Bees played against Soweto giants Orlando Pirates in the last 32 last year and lost the game 3-1, which gives them reason to believe they can compete against Pitso Mosimane’s Sundowns side.
In this year's edition, Bees got their campaign off with a 3-1 victory over Limpopo based side Marivheni United in the last 32 last week, while Sundowns edged National First Division side Cape Town All Stars 1-0.
“No that does not scare me. They beat Marivheni United 2-0 last season and we beat Marivheni 3-1. I don’t think they will get 24-0. Maybe it will be 1-0 or 2-0, but that does not mean it will be for them. Maybe that 2-0 will be ours. They have to prepare as much as we will prepare for them,” Gawe says.
“It’s a big game, but we have to go to Pretoria and enjoy ourselves. It motivates us because last season we played Pirates. We are going to enkoy. If there’s an upset, then there’s an upset.”
Gawe is looking forward to coming up against Sundowns midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi. He says they played together at PJ Stars in Soweto.
“I have a friend there, Sibusiso Vilakazi. We come from the same team PJ Stars. He is someone I look up to because we used to push each other to do well from training.”