On the first leg in Casablanca

Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad Casablanca have played against each other 13 times in previous matches, with the Moroccan side winning five times, Rhulani Mokwena’s men securing three wins and five matches ending in draws. With R73 million prize money at stake, there was a lot to play for when the two sides met last week, in the first leg of the African Football League final. The 2-1 defeat means that a 1-0 win at Loftus will be enough to see the Tshwane giants crowned African Football League champions, as one of their former stars, Alois Bunjira, gives his impressions.

“I thought Sundowns played very well in Casablanca considering the fact that playing in front of a hostile environment is not easy. With loud fans and green laser beams pointing in your eyes, it makes it difficult to concentrate on the match when you are playing in Morocco. It’s a very intimidating place and I feel for the Sundowns players who had to go through that. As soon as you land at the airport, you can immediately feel that this is not home. When you touch the ball on the field, the home crowd is against you from the word go, they are whistling and making noise. That is very intimidating environment. Then you also have to deal with match officials that you don’t even know where they come from and sometimes you can’t communicate with them because they can’t speak English. That’s why you need players with strong character in those matches. That place is a lion’s den. If you have few players in your team who are intimidated, that’s ok. But if it’s the whole team that is intimidated, then that is a problem. So, Sundowns did well under circumstances. Coming back from 1-0 down to score an equaliser, I thought 1-1 was going to be a good result. It was really unfortunate to concede that second goal. It was a blow to the confidence when they conceded the second goal. But fortunately, unlike in Europe, we still have an away goal rule in Africa. That will count a lot when the guys play the second leg at home. I still think that the second goal they conceded could have been avoided, honestly speaking. I thought Ronwen (Williams) could have done better with that shot because it wasn’t really wide and he used a wrong technique when he tried to save ball. If he had used his left hand, the ball was going to go for a corner kick. But instead, he used a right hand and, in the process, helped the ball into the net. But those things happen in football. We must move on. In the second leg in Pretoria, the boys will be more comfortable and confident.”