Andrew Muchineripi soccer After winning the Castle Premiership for three consecutive seasons, Sundowns Football Club have decided the time has arrived to raise their sights a little bit higher. The natural progression from being champions of a country is to become champions of a continent and that is what the Pretoria-based club has set its heart on.
They want to win the African Champions League, a competition that has not produced too much joy for South African clubs, save for Orlando Pirates in the middle of the past decade. Who can forget that December evening in 1995 when Jerry Sikhosana punished sloppy defending to score the goal that brought Pirates a shock 1-0 victory over ASEC of Cte d+Ivoire. After an incident-filled 2-2 draw at FNB Stadium, including the first-half sending off of Innocent Mncwango, it was widely assumed that the Buccaneers were going to Abidjan simply to make up the numbers. Unfortunately, only Manning Rangers have come close to emulating that feat, finishing runners-up to eventual champions ASEC in a group two years ago. It is sometimes hard to understand why a country with one of the most competitive national championships on the continent, and by far the richest, has not challenged the North African giants much more. Clubs from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have won 14 of the previous 16 finals and the last decider was an all- Maghreb affair between winners Raja Casablanca of Morocco and Esperance of Tunisia.
That puts in context what Sundowns are up against and it is worth remembering that this is the first time in three attempts that they have managed to clear the second obstacle on the road to glory. AS Vita from the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) put paid to their hopes in 1994, winning a second-round tie on the away-goal rule after a 4-4 aggregate stalemate.
The sense of shock was much greater last year when St Louisienne, a club from the Indian Ocean island of Runion that no South African football follower took too seriously, sent Sundowns packing. If the memory of this humble scribe is still functioning with reasonable precision, Sundowns were late leaving for Runion with fixture-lagged players and, after taking a two-goal lead, lost the match 4-2 to exit in disgrace.
This year has seen a significant step forward with Sundowns reaching the mini- league phase for the first time and earning $150 000 (about R1-million) in the process. Ironically, the club known as the Brazilians advanced despite two poor home performances that produced a 2-1 victory over Lesotho Defence Force and a boring goalless draw with Zambian visitors Nkana. A 4-1 triumph in the tiny mountain kingdom adequately atoned for the first-leg result and the drab deadlock with Nkana followed a creditable 1-1 draw on the Copperbelt. Just two weeks ago the six-match group programme began and Sundowns, after a hesitant start, got on top of 1999 African Cup Winners Cup winners Africa Sports of Cte d+Ivoire to win 2-0 at sparsely populated Loftus stadium. A Lassina Dao own goal 10 minutes into the second half set the Brazilians on their way and Isaac Shai put the issue beyond doubt with a close-range shot nine minutes from the end of normal time.
On Sunday Sundowns are in Cameroon to face the weakest team in the group, Sable Batie, who come from a village in the west of the powerful football nation and were formed just six years ago. To finish first in a group that also includes 1994 champions and 1999 runners-up Esperance, Sundowns must win their three home matches and this task appears within the capabilities of a squad boasting strength in depth. What the Brazilians must also do is gather points on the road, and Cameroon offers the best chance of securing a victory, especially with Sable still smarting from a 4-0 hiding by Esperance in North Africa. I watched that match on e.tv (have we finally got a TV channel that recognises the existence of football north of the Limpopo?) and Sable were too terrible for words. However, a word of warning for Sundowns. Sable are much better at home than away as second-round opponents Highlanders from Bulawayo will surely testify. Sable crashed 3-0 in Zimbabwe only to be level on aggregate two minutes into the second half in Cameroon and went on to win the penalty shoot-out 4-3 and book a place in the group phase.
ENDS