Despite losing 1-0 to hosts Zamalek of Egypt in the second-leg final match on Sunday, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa claimed their maiden CAF Champions league title on a 3-1 goals aggregate, having won the first leg 3-0 last Saturday.
The Egyptians went into the second leg facing a herculean task of wiping away three goals and going on to score a winner for their quest for a 6th CAF Champions league win to materialize.
In the end, it was only the Nigerian-born, 26-year-old Stanley Ohawuchi of Zamalek’s galaxy of stars who could find the net in the 62nd minute to give the Egyptians their consolatory goal.
They became the second South African Club to win the trophy after Orlando Pirates (winners in 1995, and runners up in 2013).
Mamelodi Sundowns’ previous record in the Champions league was their runner-up trophy in 2001, while the Egyptians were champions in 1984, 1986, 1993, 1996 and 2002, and runners up in 1994.
For the South Africans, the path to glory was rough as they had earlier been eliminated by Medeama of Ghana in the play-off stage of the parallel CAF Confederation Cup but were re-instated to the Champions League, where they walked over AS Vita Club of the DR Congo, disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in their preliminary round tie against Mafunzo of Zamzibar.
