Betway Premiership champions Mamalodi Sundowns went against Egypt’s Pyramids FC in the CAF Championships League on Sunday the first of June. It follows the first leg tie last weekend; Sunday’s second leg will start at 1-1. Lucas Ribeiro was the one who broke the stalemate between the teams after fifty-four minutes before Pyramids’ Walid El Karti equalised during 90 minutes of stoppage time. Addressing the media ahead of the second leg final, Sundowns chairman, Tlhopane “Tlhopie” Motsepe, revealed that Kabo Yellow expected nothing less than a win for Abafana BaStyle on Sunday. South Africa is clearly ambitious and ready to brace itself for the Fifa World Cup.
“That’s what we want, to go there as African champions,” Motsepe said via Sowetan. “We have a big chance. Being African champions again is something we’ve longed for. We are one step away from achieving it. “If we were to rewind to the start of the season and you asked if we would love to be in this position – one game away from the CAF Champions League title – we would take it. It’s what we plan for every season,” the Sundowns boss added. Kodisang, who moved from Moreirense in Portugal, originally left Mzansi in 2019 after a stellar season with the defunct Bidvest Wits. The Rustenburg-born player started in Braga’s B team before attracting Moreirense’s senior side. After 14 goals and eight assists for Moreirense, Sundowns came calling…
The truth is that Mamelodi Sundowns is a formidable sports team that can take on almost any other opposing team. They do this with their skill, training and talent. The opportunity created by being able to compete in the CAF Champions League title is a huge opportunity for any Soccer club including from South Africa. Sundowns play to win. As does every other opposing team. But only two can make it to the final of the CAF Champions League and only one can win the finale. Soccer is a game of wits and skill, depending on how you manoeuvre the ball. Chairman Motsepe of the Sundowns will have to focus his team’s energy into preparation and training for the final major game. The Sundowns’ talent in terms of Kodisang and other players will prove difficult to beat as well as their team work.
Mamelodi Sundowns were denied a second CAF Champions League title after they succumbed 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) to Pyramids FC in the second leg of the final, played at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Sunday evening. The Egyptian hosts established a 2-0 lead on the night via goals from Fiston Mayele and Ahmed Samy, but Iqraam Rayners’s strike with just over a quarter hour of regulation time to play made for a tense and dramatic ending to the second leg of the final. The Brazilians needed just one more to level the scores at 3-3 on aggregate and take the title on the away goals rule, but Pyramids ultimately hung on to claim their first Champions League crown. The teams cancelled each other out in a cagey first 20 minutes, but Pyramids soon capitalised on a mistake in defence from Sundowns to claim the lead midway through the first half.
So Sundowns didn’t perform as well as they had hoped. Well even luck had a role to play in the game. It was a complex battle of wits and skills between two professional soccer clubs. The balance could have tipped in either teams’ favour. In the end the host team won against the South Africans. The task would not have been easy. The Pyramids FC was able to establish a winning lead over the Sundowns. The game would certainly go down in football history for its intensity and attraction of the dramatic. The spectators would remember the games for the rest of their lives. The Brazilian team was next and they have usually proven themselves a tough nut to crack. A tough team to undermine. The Pyramids team however managed to hold their ground for a while longer.
It was a historic match in which the Egyptians surprisingly won the CAF Champions League for the first in their foot ball history. Taking on first South Africa and then Brazil proved to be no picnic.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
