Champions League success a major boost for SA soccer

MAMELODI Sundowns’ victory in the African Champions League final on Sunday has the potential to kick off a new era of continental success for South African clubs.

The country has been building to this moment in recent seasons after Orlando Pirates reached the Champions League final in 2013 and the Confederation Cup last year.

With Sundowns’ success‚ that is now three finals appearances in three years‚ after South African clubs had none in the previous 12 seasons of continental competition.

The reasons for that barren run are varied‚ including a lack of appetite for the expense of competing.

But Sundowns’ success now compels the likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Bidvest Wits to take their participation more seriously.

Chiefs have been spared that hurdle next year, having not qualified for African club competition‚ but Wits will be in the Champions League along with The Brazilians.

The Confederation of African Football have yet to confirm whether Platinum Stars will be elevated from the Confederation Cup as a third South African side in the elite competition‚ but precedent suggests that they will.

That would mean Nedbank Cup holders SuperSport United and newly formed Cape Town City‚ who finished fourth last season as Mpumalanga Black Aces‚ would be offered Confederation Cup places.

Five Premier Soccer League teams on the continental stage would be a first‚ but also a welcome chance to make more inroads in the competitions and keep the eyes of the world on South African soccer.

News of Sundowns’ success against Zamalek will have gone global‚ even if only as a small footnote in some sporting publications.

And they will have a further chance to sell their brand‚ and that of the Premier Soccer League and South African football‚ at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December.

Soccer in this country has been in the doldrums for 15 years.

The failure of the 2010 World Cup to turn the national team into a major force on the continent is a source of some mirth.

But Sundowns’ success should go some way to dispelling those perceptions‚ and should have scouts and clubs from across Europe taking a closer look at PSL talent.

After all‚ if this league can produce the champions of a continent‚ what other talent is available here?

It makes Sundowns as a club‚ the PSL as a league and South African football as a whole‚ more attractive to the casual observer too. A strong showing at the Club World Cup – and there is no reason why Sundowns cannot provide that – will only entrench those feelings further.

The PSL has long claimed to be the top league in Africa‚ but without continental success from their clubs‚ the claim felt hollow. That has changed too.

But the success has also brought about some negatives that need to be managed.

Sundowns’ run in the competition‚ and their trip to Japan‚ provided yet another example of the flaws in the South African football calendar.

That the league is considering stretching the season by three weeks to accommodate the backlog of games – a considerable burden for a weary Sundowns – shows how far the domestic game is out of sync with Caf.

We are fortunate that there were not African Nations Cup or World Cup qualifiers this June (as there were last year) or we would be in real danger of not being able to complete the calendar at all.

It is something that needs addressing, and some serious introspection from the PSL.

Sundowns’ success also has the potential to rub off on the national team.

Certainly they have showed that there is no fear in competing on the continent and that strong tactics‚ hard work and some good old-fashioned guts can produce results.

National team coach Shakes Mashaba has made the point that when Orlando Pirates lifted the Champions Cup in 1995‚ Bafana Bafana won the African Nations Cup title the following year with a number of those battle-hardened Pirates players in their ranks.

He will be hoping for the same in terms of World Cup qualifiers.