Sundowns have chance to remove Champions League question mark

THE GOOD news for Mamelodi Sundowns – as they seek to put themselves in line for a CAF Champions League final – is that they have no problem with finding the opposition net.

The Brazilians, who take on defending champions Wydad AC in the first leg of their semi-final at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca tomorrow, are the highest-scoring team of the four remaining sides.

In 10 matches, the South African champions have found the opposition net an incredible 35 times – way more than all of Wydad, Esperance and Al Ahly who meet in the other semi-final today.

Granted, a big chunk of those goals (16) were scored in the early round against lowly La Passe of the Seychelles. But that should not be allowed to take away from Sundowns’ prolific form in front of goal.

What should give coach Rulani Mokwena and everyone associated with Sundowns confidence is the fact that some of those goals have not only been scored by the forwards, but that just about everyone has contributed.

An impressive 16 players have scored, with three of those 35 strikes having been own goals by their adversaries.

It has been because of their finishing prowess that Sundowns are not only the top scorers, but that they are also the only team yet to lose a match in the competition this season.

In those 10 matches, they have won eight and drawn just twice – at Al Ahly and Al Hilal.

In contrast, their opponents have been beaten three times – Wydad suffering defeats against Rivers United in the qualifiers, JS Kabylie in the group stage, as well as to Simba in the quarter-finals.

Of course, none of those losses had a bearing on the Moroccan giants’ progress to the semis.

But those are the kinds of results that Mokwena would have looked at as he prepared for the 11th meeting between the two sides.

He would have looked at just what the trio did as they managed to get the better of Wydad.

Sundowns are yet to beat Wydad in Morocco after five matches, and while they do not necessarily have to win the first leg to book a place in the final, a maiden victory will definitely go a long way towards helping them realise their goal of adding a second star above their club crest.

While Mokwena was part of the technical team when Sundowns conquered Africa in 2016, he was second in charge to Pitso Mosimane, and nothing would help him confirm his status as one of South Africa’s top coaches more than by delivering Africa’s ultimate club football prize to Chloorkop.

He has the players to do just that, and the fact that only Themba Zwane was in that victorious squad seven years ago means he is in charge of a group hungry to have their names etched into Sundowns’ history books.

The likes of Peter Shalulile are revered in the Premiership for their prolific scoring and winning numerous trophies but until they win the Champions League, there will always be a question mark about their status as Sundowns legends.

They have a fantastic opportunity to remove that question mark having made it this far in the Champions League.

Now all they have to do is continue in their brilliant scoring vein to get a step closer to continental glory.