Johannesburg - There are two reasons Mamelodi Sundowns should not take it for granted that they will be crowned CAF Champions League champions in Alexandria, Egypt on Sunday.
That is the number of times teams carrying 3-0 leads into the second leg of the continent’s premier club competition have ended up on the losing side.
Pitso Mosimane’s team look set to add a star above their club badge following a compelling 3-0 defeat of Zamalek in the first leg played at the Lucas Moripe Stadium last Saturday.
And having also beaten the White Knights twice in the group stage, it is safe to assume that the Brazilians have their opposition’s number. But, as Mosimane warned in Atteridgeville after that incredible win, the tie is not over yet. And there are records to back him up.
In the competition’s history, there have been three cup finals that saw the first leg ending in 3-0 wins. Only one of those teams that enjoyed the lead ended up as champions.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly won the 1982 edition 4-1 on aggregate against Ghana’s Asante Kotoko having beaten them 3-0 in the first leg they hosted.
Eleven years earlier, Kotoko were on the receiving of a weird defeat against Cameroon’s Cano Yaounde. The Ghanaians won the first leg 3-0 and then lost 2-0 in Cameroon. Incredibly, CAF declared the tie a draw because the final was decided on points aggregate rather than the usual goals aggregate which had applied in previous finals.
The two teams then had to replay, and again it was strangely decided that the replay be played in Cameroon instead of at a neutral venue. Yaounde led 1-0 when the match was abandoned due to crowd trouble. Ordinarily when there’s crowd trouble, the hosts are to blame and get punished. Not so this time, CAF awarding the result to Canon.
Sundowns can rest assured there will be no such shenanigans for their match against Zamalek.
But they will have to guard against what happened to Guinea’s Hafia back in 1976. Comfortable 3-0 first leg victors over Mouloudia Alger, they were beaten 3-0 in Algeria and then went down 4-1 on penalties.
And that is no doubt what Zamalek will be playing for, a 3-0 win to force the match into a shoot-out.
Of their five titles, three were won via spot-kicks. Back in 1986 they played a 2-2 aggregate draw with Africa Sports but triumphed on penalties in Abidjan. And then in 1993 Zamalek were tied goalless against Kotoko after two legs and clinched the title via the dreaded route.
They did so again in 1996, trumping Nigeria’s Shooting Stars in the shoot-out following 2-1 wins for both teams.
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The Star