ON THE CUSP OF GLORY
Nthethe about to reach heights he never dreamt of before Sundowns
A“HARD but right” decision that Thabo Nthethe made when he decided to leave Bloemfontein Celtic for Mamelodi Sundowns in 2014 is four games away from paying off big time. That’s what stands between the Brazilians and the Caf Champions League title.
Two of those matches will be against Zambia’s Zesco United, starting this afternoon (3pm) in Ndola in the first leg of the semi-finals. Seven days later, Sundowns will host the familiar foe – whom they’ve met three times in pre-season friendlies in Zambia – in the second leg at Loftus Versfeld.
“If I were to end this year as an African champion, I can retire with peace of mind,” Nthethe said from Ndola. “I would retire as a satisfied man because there’s no higher honour in club football. It would mean a lot for me, especially looking at where I come from. I never thought I would reach these heights when I was at Celtic. But this is a perfect example of how dreams can turn into a reality, regardless of age.”
When the 31-year-old joined Sundowns two years ago, he was seen as a man close to reaching his sell-by date looking to make his last big buck before he retires. But he has become an integral part of the Brazilians’ defence. He captained them in the Absa Premiership and Champions League in the absence of Ramahlwe Mphahlele last season and Hlompho Kekana in this campaign. Nthethe can not only claim to be the best defender in the country, after he was named the Defender of the Year in May at the PSL awards, but he can also claim to be among the best defenders on the continent. In the group stage he was a regular feature in Caf ’s Team of Week as Sundowns swept aside Zamalek, Enyimba and ES Setif, before the Tunisians were kicked out of the tournament for spectator violence, to top Group B with a match to spare. But it’s the game that didn’t count, against Setif, that showed Nthethe that Sundowns can be African champions.
“It was the turning point because we had lost to (Ghana’s) Medeama in the Caf Confederation Cup play-offs,” Nthethe said. “We were re-instated into the tournament (when Caf kicked out AS Vita for fielding a suspended player) when we were already thinking about our holiday. We had nothing to lose. After Setif, we beat Enyimba at home and then went to beat Zamalek at home and away. It was a huge statement. We were playing against teams that had two stars or more on their badges while we don’t have any. Yet we never looked out of place.”
The clubs in Sundowns’ group had nine Champions League titles among them while the Brazilians’ best showing was reaching the final in 2001. That didn’t show on the pitch. But when they take on Zesco, they will carry the favourites tag for the first time in this competition because of how they booked their place in the last four and the fact they are unbeaten against them in the three friendlies they played.
The Zambians will be a stern test because they play a brand of enterprising football with a potent attack that finished the group stage with the most goals (10). But they’re vulnerable at the back having conceded the most goals (9).
If Nthethe and company can keep the Zambians on a leash, their attack should take care of the rest. This is Nthethe’s finest hour, representing his country at the highest level. He has less than 20 caps for Bafana Bafana that don’t include a semi-final of a premier continental competition. It makes his journey all the more memorable.