SOCCER
Ntuthuko Maphumulo It’s an African Champions’ League final that has all the ingredients of greatness. If Sundowns can upset the form book and get a victory in Egypt on Friday they will earn the respect of the whole continent and pocket more than R10-million. To emulate Orlando Pirates the only South African club so far to have been crowned continental champions Sundowns will have to overcome the African team of the century, Al Ahly, in their Cairo fortress. Sundowns will also be looking to give South Africa a second African trophy in a month, after Kaizer Chiefs won the Mandela Cup a few weeks ago. Al Ahly will be trying to win this cup for the third time. The task is a huge one, however, with Al Ahly having a precious away goal from the first leg of the final at Loftus stadium early inDecember. Sundowns went into the first game with a depleted squad that lacked creativity in the midfield and strikers that were goal-shy. Sundowns are well advised to look at tapes of Al Ahly’s semifinal leg in Cairo against Petro Atletico, where the Angolans managed to beat the Egyptians 4-2 in their own backyard. They can draw inspiration from Pirates, who won the cup away from home when they beat ASEC of Cte d’Ivoire 1-0 in Abidjan after they drew with them at home in 1995. Sundowns go into Friday’s final with a 1-0 league victory over Manning Rangers under their belts, with the goal scored by Simba Marumo. But coach Ted Dumitru will have to gear his players for what amounts to a footballing mission impossible. They must not freeze in Cairo as they did a year ago in Cte d’Ivoire, when they were trounced 6-1 by Africa Sport in the semifinals. l Moroka Swallows are likely to go into the Christmas recess as the top team on the Premier SoccerLeague (PSL)log. Black Leopards have set tongues wagging, with Gavin Hunt winning the coach of the month award twice this season. The league newcomers have clawed their way to second in the table, capping it off with an exciting 5-4 win over Ria Stars in the Northern Province derby.
But defending champions Orlando Pirates seem unstoppable after out-playing and outclassing Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 at the FNB stadium last week. It was a splendid early Christmas present for”the Ghost” and Pirates are now third in the log. Supersport are fourth after appointing their first black coach, Pitso Mosimane, and signing up with a new technical kit sponsor, Umbro. Manning Rangers, in fifth position, boast a lethal strike force in Gilbert Mushangazikhe and Ishmael Maluleka, who have scored the most goals (31) in the league thus far. At the bottom of the league are Classic who have a new coach after firing Khabo Zondo who now coaches Golden Arrows. Classic are still looking for that elusive first win. Zondo’s first game in charge of the KwaZulu-Natal club was not a success, with Golden Arrows losing to Supersport. Amazulu got their second win the first for new coach Neil Tovey by beating Wits University 2-1. The”Greek Gods”, Hellenic, have moved off the bottom of the table and were the first league team to deal Kaizer Chiefs’s”Operation Clean Sweep” a blow.
Most of the league teams have already played half of their fixtures, with only Chiefs, who have already won four trophies the Vodacom Challenge kudu horn, BP Top 8, Coca-Cola Cup and Mandela Cup and Sundowns, who have also been campaigning in Africa, significantly behind in the number of games played.