All hail Mamelodi Sundowns
Good Khama & Co ensured the Downs booked their ticket to the Land of the Rising Sun.
|||Sundowns much-celebrated CAF Champions League triumph follows years of heavy investment in players and coaches by the Pretoria football club’s billionaire owner and ANC insider, Patrice Motsepe.
Though the winners’ cheque of $1.5 million (about R20m) in the premier African inter-club contest is probably small change for Motsepe, the mining magnate and his expensively-assembled team are thrilled they can add a star to their playing jersey to show off the triumph they secured against Zamalek in Egypt last Sunday.
A further reward for the well-heeled and well-stocked “Brazilians” of the Jacaranda City is that they will be the first South African club to feature in the Fifa Club World Cup, with the 2016 edition of the annual event set to take place in Japan from December 8 to 18.
Because of Motsepe’s passionate support and deep pockets, Sundowns’ estimated squad value is considerably higher than those of South Africa’s other top clubs, who are all based in Gauteng, according to transfermarkt.com, a popular German-based website that carries footballing information that includes player transfer details based on actual sums disclosed or newspaper reports.
The squad, which has an average age of 28, is valued at R196 million and the next most expensive on the local football scene is Chiefs at R163m. Then comes Bidvest Wits at R145m, SuperSport United at R144m and Orlando Pirates at R132m in the top five.
The other participants at the Club World Cup will be Real Madrid (representing the European football confederation), Atletico Nacional (South America), America (Central and North America) Auckland City (Oceania), the winners of the Asian Champions League and a Japanese representative.
The Asian Champions League final will be contested by Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea in November.
The Japanese mini-contest features Kashima Antlers, Kawasaki Frontale and Urawa Red Diamonds.Most local fans will expect Sundowns to focus on enjoying the experience of playing in a Fifa tournament rather than put pressure on themselves to reach the final.
In recognition of this rare accomplishment by a South African sporting entity, Independent Media takes a closer at the players who have lifted the Pretoria outfit to the top of the African football file and booked a ticket to the Land of the Rising Sun.
It has to be noted that the gutsy triumph by coach Pitso Mosimane’s men from Pretoria came in the absence of a number of valuable men because of registration or injury issues, including Bafana Bafana players Anele Ngcongca and Sibusiso Vilakazi, Colombian striker Leonardo Costa and Brazilian defender Ricardo Nascimento.
SUNDOWNS' KEY PERFORMERS:
Khama Billiat: The crafty 26-year-old from Zimbabwe is arguably the first name that goes on the Sundowns team sheet. He is the most respected man in the Sundowns' attack and the reigning footballer of the season in South Africa, with 18 caps for his native land.
Hlompho Kekana: All football coaches love a scoring midfielder, and the 31-year-old brings that and more to the party. He is a key winner of the ball in midfield and his goals are generally out of the top drawer. He has collected more than a dozen caps for Bafana Bafana.
Keagan Dolly: The SA Under-23 star and recent Bafana Bafana regular has great skills in the Sundowns' midfield operation to give opposition defences deep trouble, and some of his goals are really classy. The diminutive but pacey 23-year-old will be happy to have a rest soon after doing duty for club and country continuously since the middle of last year.
Denis Onyango: The 31-year-old goalkeeper is the rock of the Sundowns' and Ugandan national team’s defence. He was unfortunate to suffer an injury in the first 30 minutes of the second leg of the Champions League final in Egypt last Sunday, but was ably replaced by Wayne Sandilands. He has 32 caps for Uganda.
Anthony Laffor: The Liberian attacker is now 31 and has 31 caps for his native land, but is one of several Sundowns players who have been allowed to be registered as non-foreigners with the Premier Soccer League because his long stay in South Africa has earned him a residency permit. He is another positively slippery performer who has not been a regular in the first team over the past year but has excelled of late.
Thabo Nthethe: The reigning defender of the season in the Premier Soccer League is a no-frills operator who has had to combine with different partners in the heart of the Sundowns' backline in the competition for different reasons. Aged 32, and formerly of Bloemfontein Celtic, he has been capped more than 10 times for South Africa.
Wayne Arendse: Like Nthethe, 32-year-old Arendse is not a “glamorous” star but quietly gets the job done. He gave yeoman service to Santos in his birthplace of Cape Town before moving to Sundowns in Pretoria in 2012, although he has just one cap for South Africa and was visibly disappointed to get suspended for the second leg of the Champions League final in Egypt. His place was taken by 25-year-old Bangaly Soumahoro from the Ivory Coast.
Teboho Langerman: The 30-year-old left back scored a wonderful goal in the first leg of the Champions League final in Pretoria which underlined his great service to the team in recent years. He has been capped a few times for South Africa, with his previous clubs having been Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United.
Asavela Mbekile: The tough defender’s middle name is Shakespeare, but he happily gets stuck into opponents with less poetry than what the legendary Bard from Stratford-upon-Avon in England was known for. He is a versatile 30-year-old who has been a regular in the right back position of late, but others have shared the position with him over the months. He has just been called up for Bafana Bafana duty.
Tiyani Mabunda: Another versatile player who helped provide a pre-defence screen for Sundowns, along with Hlompho Kekana in the central midfield, especially when Zamalek came storming back in the second leg of the Champions League final in Alexandria last Sunday. The 28-year-old came more into the Sundowns’ selection frame after the departure of Bongani Zungu to a club in Portugal earlier in the year.
Percy Tau: The 22-year-old forward went from playing in the promotion league in South Africa to putting a Champions League medal around his neck in the space of a year. He benefited from the injury-enforced absence of main Sundowns striker Leonardo Castro and will be trying to improve his decision-making processes to boost his natural skill, which forced an own goal from Zamalek player Islam Gamal in the first leg of the final in South Africa for a 3-0 result on the day.
– The Sunday Independent