BRAZILLIANT!
Against all odds, Sundowns make it to the Champions League final
AT the best of times, Anthony Laffor and Percy Tau are serial benchwarmers at Mamelodi Sundowns because of the club’s strength in depth.
Last night, their goals propelled the Brazilians to their first Caf Champions League final in 15 years, in what was an absorbing game of football of the highest quality.
Their performances will be remembered for years to come because they often had to justify their starting place.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has unwavering faith in them and when he turned to them in his hour of need, they validated the trust he has placed in them.
Laffor’s fifth-minute opener set the hosts on course before Tau’s 64thminute header knocked the stuffing out of George Lwandamina’s quality outfit. Tau provided the crucial assist to Laffor, whom Mosimane described as a difficult person. Those are the kind of players who have spades of big-match temperament.
Operation “Against All Odds” somehow continues to thrive despite the obstacles Sundowns have faced.
One thing is for certain, Champions League matches are not just only for teams who earned the right to be there, but actually embrace the tournament with all its trouble.
The fact that Zesco had a sizeable travelling contingent that sat next to Sundowns’s yellow army on the east stand was testament to the club’s commitment to the tournament.
Their silence was deafening when Sundowns committed numerous defensive errors.
The yellow machine stayed long after Algerian referee Mehdi Abid Charef, who had a faultless game, blew the final whistle.
Thabo Nthethe and company struggled to contain first-leg brace hero Jackson Mwanza. The big striker either shrugged off defenders or beat them for pace, but did not have the exact beating of Denis Onyango. There was a 17th-minute lob that beat Onyango, but not the crossbar.
With Onyango also keeping out Mwanza’s ninth-minute palm-stinger after Tiyani Mabunda carelessly gave the ball away in the midfield, it was a sign of the dangerous living the hosts were surviving.
However, this was a Zesco side that showed why they got through a cutthroat Group A that contained continental giants Al-Ahly and ASEC Mimosas.
Regardless of their defensive frailties, Sundowns examined Zesco’s defensive resolve and most of the time, they found it wanting.
Laffor and Keagan Dolly had golden chances to extend Sundowns’s advantage, but the former’s 18thminute snapshot went wide.
Dolly’s 32nd-minute chance was well saved by Zesco captain and goalkeeper Jacob Banda after the Westbury wizard, Dolly, combined well with Khama Billiat and Tau to open up the visitors’ defence.
Then there was Mabunda’s 44thminute 35m drive that beat everything but the underside of the crossbar. The collective groan must have been heard in Johannesburg as it was one of those chances that either go in or stay out. Its importance was not lost on Mabunda, who agonisingly fell to the ground in the aftermath.
While it was absolved by Tau’s goal, Sundowns could have and should have sealed the deal by the hour mark.
Billiat was rather wasteful with his chance, shooting straight at Banda after doing the spadework of beating the defenders.
However, there was renewed purpose in Sundowns’s attacking game as they realised the need of closing the game out. That they did with consummate ease and another chapter in their continental journey has to be scripted.