Saturday the 18th of April was filled with a lot of football fiesta as far as the great continent of Africa is concerned as the penultimate legs of the continent’s elite club football competition took place, 1st in the city of Tshwane (Pretoria), and secondly in the city of Rabat, in South Africa and Morocco respectively.
For historical importance not only to the continent but to the global football community at large, football fanatics also woke up on the day to the news that English championship side the Sky Blues of Coventry City had been promoted as champions of the EFL to the English Premier League after a quarter of century in exile after securing a point at Blackburn Rovers, recalling also that it is the team the 1st African player to play and score in the English Premier league Peter Ndlovu played on behalf of the great continent and paving way the other African stars that have traced the footsteps he mad at a young age in the best league in the world.
And what a pleasant coincidence in that the gaffer who guided the West Midlands side to promotion Frank Lampard also made his debut in the league for West Ham over decades ago in a match against the team he has guided to promotion, and got a pat from the legendary Peter Ndlovu who was in Coventry City colors that night.
To the Caf champions league semifinal 2nd leg involving Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance the city of Pretoria was buzzing with fans from both teams awaiting a humdinger of a tie after Masandawana had secured a 1nil away victory in Tunis the week prior. Loftus Versfeld stadium was a sea of yellow as Sundowns supporters turned out in huge numbers to cheer on their team, and so did the away fans of Esperance. Coach Miguel Cardoso going into the match today at Loftus was on the cusp of history of becoming one of only 3 coaches to reach the champions league final 3 times after Manuel Jose with Al Ahly of Egypt and Pitso Mosimane with both Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly.
Over the years the Caf champions league has turned out to be a competition of very thin and fine margins, and for those that have blinked it has been a cruel lesson learnt that you constantly have to be switched through the entire moments of the 2 legs in the knockout stages. Mamelodi Sundowns went into the match carrying a 1nil advantage from the first leg in Tunis courtesy of a Bryan Leon goal which was 1 of 2 of Sundowns’ 2 shots on target 1 which they made count.
Having survived the hostile atmosphere in the Maghreb a week prior there was certainly nothing to hold back the Brazilians as they played like the home team, pressing Esperance such that they had little breathing space. With Tashreeq Mathews in the starting 11, making use of his speed he was unleashing Divine Lunga on the left side, who to the surprise of many was having a hell of good game as opposed to the somewhat jittery performance he put up in the first leg. He found Bryan Leon in the box with a cutback pass, but the Colombian was let down by his first touch.
Mathews was the key link to every attack the Brazilians made from the left flank, and in the 20th minute, he released a rushing Leon into the box whose attempt on target was put away by the ES Tunis goalie. Bryan Leon’s runs kept asking questions to the Esperance backline, and the 32nd minute Said the Es Tunis goalie failed to clear the ball early from a back throw-in on their right flank, with Leon pressing high get his head to the ball as the goalie tried to clear his lines head kicking Leon in the process.
The match official of the day didn’t hesitate to point to the penalty spot, with Leon taking responsibility from 12 yards, his first attempt was saved by the goalie, but he was switched on and calm to bury the rebound effort putting Sundowns into the lead in the 35th minute, sending the entire Loftus stadium into delirium. The match would go to the break with the Brazilians leading, and in control of the tie, and as the Portuguese has always emphasized on moments, Mamelodi Sundowns simply played that with simply controlling and managing the game in the 2nd with twice coming close from long range efforts from Marcelo Allende and Jayden Adams in the 75th minute.
Mamelodi Sundowns would winddown the clock keeping the Tunisian side at bay, and with the final whistle being blown it was mission accomplished as they made it to the 2nd final in 2 seasons with a 2nil aggregate win, again Bryan Leon being the hero as he was in the first leg, where they meet Moroccan outfit AS FAR who beat local rivals RS Berkane 2-1 on aggregate having won the 1st leg 2nil in Rabat.
The final now awaits over 2 legs with the first leg being played in Pretoria and the return fixture being hosted in Rabat.
