Cape Town – Mamelodi Sundowns will do well to emulate the performance of Kaizer Chiefs, who won a CAF Champions League semi-final match against three-time winners Wydad in Morocco during the 2020/21 season.
In that match, in June 2021, at the Mohammed V Stadium, the decided underdogs Chiefs did the impossible by defeating Wydad 1-0 in their semi-final first-leg clash. At the time, Chiefs were a struggling outfit and a mid-table side in the domestic league.
The match statistics show the match was seldom played in the Wydad half of the field, and Chiefs were restricted to only three shots at goal, as against 28 by the hosts.
Despite enjoying only 21% possession, Chiefs' Serbian striker Samir Nurković scored a first-half goal, and it proved to be the match-decider.
In the second leg, Chiefs held the Moroccans to a goalless draw, and that was enough to reach the final.
This evening, Sundowns will play at the same Mohammed V Stadium, against the same club Wydad, in a crunch Champions League semi-final first-leg clash (9pm).
Unlike Chiefs, Sundowns are highly-fancied, and some critics say the South African champions are the strongest of the four remaining sides in CAF's blue riband club competition.
That opinion may have changed somewhat in the past 12 hours, after Al Ahly ran the Tunisian champions Esperance into their ground for a 3-0 win in Tunisia last night.
That away win was a massive statement by the 10-time champions Al Ahly, and Bafana Bafana international Percy Tau helped himself to two goals.
Playing in North Africa always stirs debate about playing in front of hostile crowds, and nowadays it seems that South Africans are dealing with this aspect with some degree of success.
In the wake of the success of Sundowns and Marumo Gallants in Africa, Saudi-based coach Pitso Mosimane was moved to say that South African teams are doing much better coping with crowds in hostile territory in recent months.
Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena feels his team is adequately prepared to deal with the threat posed by North African crowds at matches.
“It is going to be important how we absorb the pressure of the crowds," said Mokwena. "Already this team has shown in Cairo (against Al Ahly) that we can play in front of hostile away crowds.
“We did that in Algeria (against CR Belouzidad) too, where we played in front of a hostile and aggressive crowd. In the Champions League, you must always get used to playing in tough away matches.
“In this type of competition, there are lots of strong teams, but we are happy to be here.
"We want to stay in this competition. Staying in the competition means we must play every game and win. At the same time, we want to enjoy this moment and try to create long-lasting memories."
The second leg will be played next week in South Africa.