Why Mamelodi Sundowns’s Won 1st CAF Women’s Champions League

By this result, the losing finalists Hasaacas Ladies finished second to win Silver medals while Moroccan Champions, ASFAR Ladies finished in the third place to win Bronze medals after defeating Malabo King’s 3-1in the Third Place play-off just as the Equatorial Guinea champions came fourth in the competition.

Wadi Degla FC of Egypt, AS Mande of Mali, Vihiga Queens of Kenya and Rivers Angels FC of Port Harcourt crashed out of the competition at the group stage as they could not progress any further.

A closer look at the performances of the eight teams that participated in the tournament in Egypt showed that Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) champions, Rivers Angels were one of the worst teams that took part in the elite women’s clubs competition.

For example, the CAF Technical Study Group (TSG) which reviewed the performances of the eight teams at end of the group stage, never referenced the Nigerian club or its players and coaches in their assessment index to show how poor the Nigerian team performed in Egypt.

During a press conference held in Cairo two days to last Friday’s final, the TGS members gave their analysis of the first edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League.

Ms Clementine Touré, Côte d’Ivoire Women’s National Team Head Coach and CAF Instructor who shared the stage with Sheryl Botes, Head Coach of SAFA Girls Soccer Academy and CAF Instructor, both answered to the questions on impressive teams, best strategies, and top players of the competition.

They had also predicted that the final match between Hasaacas Ladies of Ghana and Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies will be tough while praising the players and coaches of both clubs, Yussif Basigi of Hasaacas Ladies and Jerry Tshabalala of Sundowns Ladies.

To show how bad the Nigerian club was in the competition, the  Ivoiren TSG member, Ms Clementine Toure never mentioned a word on Rivers Angels players and Head Coach Edwin Edem Okon who had handled Super Falcons to African Women Championship (AWC) title but she singled out Egyptian, Kenyan, Ghanaian,  Moroccan and South Africa’s  Sundowns players and coaches for commendations.

Said Toure: “I’m honored and I thank CAF for this first of its kind tournament. This tournament proves the huge awakening women’s football is having now in Africa. Both of the finalists finished their group stage in the first place, so it will definitely be a strong final game”.

“I congratulate Wadi Degla for being a very good tactical team, their goalkeeper is on a very high level and is very experienced. They deserved to get further than the group stage, but if they continue playing like this, I’m sure they’ll be huge in the near future. In the game against Malabo Kings, they only lacked some experience. Their number 7, Jasmin Theresa, showed a very good quality”.

“The tournament’s level is great in general. All teams proved high physical and tactical levels. I want to mention Kenya’s Vihiga Queens as they played 3 defensively organized games. Hasaacas Ladies managed to play each game according to their opponent. It’s a compatible team that has experience elements”.

“Mamelodi Sundowns has played as team for a long time now. They have great goalkeepers, there has been comments on their attacking performance, but they are great in general. AS Mande won the experience from this tournament, they’ll need to work more on themselves. I wonder if it’s the pressure that kept them from winning, but I wish them all the best”.

On her part, Sheryl Botes, CAF Instructor said:

“I was very impressed with Morocco’s ASFAR. Their offensive tactics and the way they play as a team and individually, they are brilliant and play very good football. Evelyn Badu (Hasaacas) is very intelligent for her age, she’s the link between all sides of her team. Defensively, she’s very smart and helps her team”.

“Andile Dlamini is a part of the national team, she’s a very good goalkeeper when it comes to penalty kicks. It was a key decision from Mamelodi Sundowns to bring two great goalkeepers, as Rabalao showed great performance as well”.

“The level of this tournament is very high, and it’s important to showcase this to the world. And a key to that is having experienced coaches that lead the teams, it’s not just about the physicality of the teams, it’s also about different strategies. The fact that we have this number of quality coaches says volume about this tournament”.

“There’s no good formula in football, on a matchday, everything can happen. It is about which players can apply the strategy along with the spirit and the will to win. My money is on Mamelodi Sundowns to win the final”.

The two TSG members did not find anything good in Nigeria’s  champions after playing three matches like the other seven clubs in the group stage hence nobody should ask further questions why  Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt crashed out of the competition at group stage despite the pedigree of Nigeria in international women’s football circle in Africa and the world.

It is instructive to note that of the eight clubs from eight countries that took part in the maiden CAFWCL in Egypt, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea have won the AWC or AWCON while Nigeria, Ghana did South Africa have represented Africa in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final.

Also, Nigeria has won the African title 11 times leaving Equatorial Guinea to win it twice. Nigeria has also represented Africa in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final eight times, Ghana has been there three times while South Africa had only one FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance in 2019.

On paper, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinean teams and not  South African team was expected to lift the first CAFWCL Cup in Egypt if past glories are to be considered.

But the outcome of the first-ever CAF Women’s ChampionsLeague in Egypt has shown that South Africa is the “New Sheriff in Town” as far as African women’s football at club and national team levels are concerned.

Prompt News investigations have revealed that South African football authorities are doing what many African football administrators are not familiar with hence the South African football is on the rise at club and national team levels.

Recent results churned out by South Africa’s senior women’s football team, Banyana Banyana and the victory of Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC in Egypt have confirmed that South African Football Association (SAFA)  President, Dr. Danny Jordaan and his Executive Board, Women’s Football Development Committee and SAFA Secretariat are doing following their development plans to the latter.

For example, the Banyana Banyana of South Africa thrashed Nigeria’s  Super Falcons 4-2 in the final of the better forgotten Aisha Buhari Cup Invitational Tournament in Lagos few months ago to win the trophy at the expense of the host country.

Again, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies inflicted another crushing defeat to Rivers Angels of Nigeria in the second Group B match of the CAFWCL in Egypt that ensured that the Nigerian champions never qualified from the group after losing their first match 0-3 to lowly rated ASFAR of Morocco.

Perhaps, Other African Federations  should swallow their pride and approach SAFA and Royal Moroccan Football Federation  (RMFF) to borrow the template of how to develope, administer and promote women’s football in their countries.

This much was disclosed by a top football administrator in Africa who pleaded anonymity. The official who works closely with South African football authorities has the following to say: