Top European team to take on Sundowns in SA

Sy Lerman

It further enhanced the proposition that Mamelodi Sundowns have usurped the role as top innovators among PSL clubs when club president Patrice Motsepe said the current Premier League leaders were in the process of arranging a friendly encounter during the coming off-season with one of Europe’s top teams.

And when Motsepe says something it is invariably no idle boast, recalling as confirmation that he had previously brought off the coup of bringing Barcelona to play Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria some years ago.

So when Motsepe does business he invariably means business – and if not Barcelona, expect the Sundowns president to again come up with something to boost the game appreciably in the country with his planned enterprise.

Having already stamped themselves as the most successful club in the PSL since the organisation switched from its previous NSL title, Motsepe has made no secret of doing whatever is required to make Sundowns a force to be reckoned on the international front as well.

It is an ambition that received a severe jolt when Sundowns as Caf Champions League holders were totally overshadowed in the World Club Championships two years ago.

But Motsepe’s ambition in this respect remains intact and apart from the club’s strong hand in the current Premier League championship race, also on the horizon is the battle to regain the Caf Champions League title and going on to the chance to gain world recognition as well.

And playing a top world club during the off-season is all part of the master-plan.