The growing suspicion that South African soccer teams had forgotten how to play quality soccer was happily debunked in Durban on Saturday night when Mamelodi Sundowns edged out Orlando Pirates 1-0 in an entertaining, skilful SAA Supa8 final before a near-capacity, appreciative 45 000 crowd.
In the process of lifting the level of play along with a gallant Pirates, the Brazilians also broke an eight-year drought in which they have failed to annex a major knockout trophy, in spite of dominating the Premier Soccer League championship with a record five titles.
Sundowns stamped their authority on the proceedings as early as the 15th minute when an alert Brent Carelse took advantage of a moment of disarray in the Pirates’ defence and drilled home the only goal of the game with a thunderous 18m shot.
But to the Buccaneers’ credit, they fought valiantly until the end and more than held their own, with Brian Baloyi in the Sundowns goal having a good deal more work to do with than his opposing number, Francis Chansa.
For all this, Pirates’ downfall was the lack of a penetrative striker to capitalise on the enterprising play of Teko Modise in midfield, with Paulos Masehe, a former Sundowns player, squandering a golden opportunity of equalising in the 66th minute.
Josta Dladla, however, was confronted with an equally inviting, close-range scoring chance shortly after Sundowns had taken the lead and a second goal at that stage could almost have sealed the issue there and then.
Second-half substitute Joseph Makhanya, who added a touch of guile and precision to Pirates’ play, came close to snatching an 87th-minute equaliser from a screaming, angled shot. On another occasion, Baloyi in the Sundowns goal made his only mistake in the game when dropping a Makhanya cross that threatened danger.
Just as he had been on Wednesday while solidifying the Bafana Bafana defence in the goalless game against Uruguay, Benson Mholongo was an ice-cool, tower of strength in the Sundowns defence — and he was well supported by his industrious co-central defender, Mbulelo Mabizela.
The absorbing game was played under a pall of underlying sadness following the recent tragic death of 22-year-old Sundowns prodigy Gift Leremi, who had close and intimate associations with the competing teams.
And with both clubs proclaiming beforehand that they would perform as a tribute and in memory of Leremi, they seemingly lived up to this with an improvement of recent standards. — Sapa