Hlompho Kekana left the country last week looking to emulate his childhood hero Mark Fish who won the continent’s premier club competition while the Mamelodi Sundowns’ captain was still at school.
Kekana returned this morning having achieved that after the Brazilians beat Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate to win the CAF Champions League title and earn the right to be African champions.
But that right comes with a lot of responsibilities, like representing the continent in the Fifa Club World Cup later this year in Japan and contesting the CAF Super Cup with the winners of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Those commitments will further add to the load that the Brazilians have to carry.
Tomorrow they start their defence of the Telkom Knockout against Polokwane City at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The other seven clubs in the quarter-finals have been confirmed because this tournament started while Sundowns were busy in Egypt. After Polokwane, Sundowns will play catch-up in the league which they are also defending. The Brazilians have played only one match in the Absa Premiership with some clubs on six games already.
They couldn’t honour their league commitments because they clashed with their quest to be African champions.
Sundowns went through hell to earn that title, especially in Alexandria on Sunday. Zamalek fans not only packed Borg El-Arab Stadium but a section of them threw missiles at Kekana and company just before the match.
“We knew about the treatment that we would receive,” Kekana said.
“We knew that it won’t be like in South Africa where only one match, the Soweto Derby, brings a sold-out crowd and you have something like 40 security guys. We knew that wouldn’t happen in Egypt.
“There needed to be soldiers to keep the place calm, guarding the crowd. That in itself tells you that this was a bigger match.
“It needed nerves of steel to step onto that field and be calm.”
Sundowns’ players took the missiles and the taunts from the fans in their strides.
“We didn’t even talk about it after we had stuff thrown at us because speaking would dilute the message,” Kekana said.
“The fans made it loud and clear, that it was war and we needed to be ready for it. We were ready, which is why we won this trophy and passed the task.
“We are champions today because of that. That thing (missiles thrown at them) drove me to try harder.”
Sundowns’ next two matches aren’t high-profile and will not draw a big crowd.
These matches will test the club’s mental strength though. The Zamalek match was easy because they knew what to expect, from the reception to the opponents.
Rise and Shine will be tricky, not difficult like Zamalek.
Cape Town City in the league on Sunday are a similar proposition for Sundowns. It’s not a big game where it’s easy for the players to hype themselves up for it.
These two clubs could be banana peels for a team that’s still on a high after making history, winning the Champions League for the first time.
“It’s a special achievement that we won in such conditions. Coming to Egypt, we knew that if we don’t focus we might find ourselves in trouble.”
It would do Sundowns good to apply the same mentality, because if they don’t focus they might find themselves in trouble tomorrow.
The Star