If beating Zamalek three times in a row hasn’t done the trick, then lifting the CAF Champions League in Egypt on Sunday should prove that Mamelodi Sundowns are the undisputed kings of Africa for 2016. Egyptians are African football royalty, with a combined 14 titles in the premier club competition in the continent while their national team has won the Africa Cup of Nations a record eight times.
In the 11 finals, since inception, where the second leg was played in Egypt only three clubs - CARA Brazzaville, Enyimba and Etoile du Sahel - have returned with the biggest trophy in club football in the continent. The 3-0 lead Sundowns have going into the second leg in Alexandria puts them in a good position to become the fourth side to be crowned kings of Africa in the land of the Pharaohs. Sundowns will attempt that without Wayne Arendse, who is suspended.
“We have to win it first. Let’s not jump the gun. But it would be good for the country, the players, the president and me. We will get respect in international football (if we win the Champions League in Egypt),” Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane said. “I think that it will be a different game in Alexandria. We are going to have a lot of stress and pressure from their supporters. Zamalek come from a good reference where they won 4-0 and then lost 5-2. They have a little bit of an advantage over us in that regard, (in the sense that they have seen a game turn around dramatically in the second leg). We will play our normal game. If they push everyone forward, we have speed at the back. We can match them. The monkey is on their back now, it’s no longer on us.”
The Brazilians have had to constantly prove that they deserve to be here after they were allowed back into the group stage because CAF kicked out AS Vita for fielding a suspended player. Sundowns sent a strong message that they are no pushovers when they qualified for the semi-final with a game to spare. They topped a group that had clubs who have won the Champions League a combined nine times. It’s because of that display that Sundowns have three players - Khama Billiat, Keagan Dolly and Denis Onyango - on the long-list for CAF’s Footballer of the Year award and four - Billiat, Dolly, Onyango and Hlompho Kekana - on the long-list of the Africa-based Footballer of the Year award.
Billiat and Dolly were a hit at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday. Egyptian journalists lined up to take pictures with the duo along with Mosimane. Their admiration went a step further for Jingles, asking him if he would agree to a coaching job in Egypt should he be offered one. Mosimane was modest in his response, arguing that his CV isn’t good enough to coach in a country that has so many titles at club level. He said at that moment, he was only looking to help South Africa in gettting its second title after a 21-year wait since Orlando Pirates in 1995. Thousands of fans packed the stadium looking to be a part of that history. Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba was also in attendance.
“I brought him to the dressing room,” Mosimane said. “I gave him a chance to speak to the boys. He congratulated us. We invited him to come with us to Alexandria ... the fans we had, I think that’s what killed Zamalek. Hopefully, we can have the stadium painted yellow like this regularly.”
Clubs crowned African champions in Egypt
1974 CARA Brazzaville 4-2 Ghazl El Mahalla, Congo; Ghazl El Mahalla 1-2 Cara Brazzaville, Egypt. CARA won 6-3 on aggregate
2003 Enyimba 2-0 Al-Ismaily, Nigeria; Al-Ismaily 1-0 Enyimba, Egypt. Enyimba won 2-1 on aggregate
2007 Etoile du Sahel 0-0 Al-Ahly, Tunisia; Al-Ahly 1-3 Etoile du Sahel, Egypt. Etoile du Sahel won 3-1 on aggregate
The Star