Pirates spirit of '95 will fuel Mamelodi Sundowns CAF Champions League final ambitions
CAF Champions League final
INSPIRATION Miguel Cardo and his Mamelodi Sundowns team aim to secure their second CAF Champions League title by overcoming historical odds and drawing inspiration from Orlando Pirates’ 1995 comeback.
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Mamelodi Sundowns may have the odds stacked against them in the second leg CAF Champions League final against hosts Pyramids FC on Sunday, but they will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Orlando Pirates if they are to win their second title in the competition.
Sundowns drew the first leg 1-1 at home at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria last week, and now will make the trip to Cairo knowing only a win or a 2-2 draw will be good enough to be crowned champions.
In fact, it’s because of the challenging scoreline that Sundowns will hope to emulate the Pirates side of 1995.
Previously, in four two-legged finals involving a South African club which failed to win the first leg at home, only once has a comeback been pulled off.
That of course came 30 years ago when Pirates drew 2-2 at home and then beat ASEC Mimosa 1-0 away in the return leg.
Sundowns’ Unstoppable Streak
Another piece of history not in Sundowns’ favour is that Egyptian clubs have won all three previous home games against SA teams in Champions League finals.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, as Pyramids have never won the Champions League before while Sundowns lifted the trophy in 2016.
Sundowns though, are unbeaten in their last 10 matches against Egyptian teams and they have also not lost their last nine games across all competitions.
Sundowns’ most recent defeat came against Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup final on April 13.
In Miguel Cardoso, Sundowns also have a coach who will be involved in his second successive Champions League final after the mentor led Esperance to the trophy match last season as Al Ahly emerged victorious.