Paul Nyathi|The Brazilians have engraved their name on the history books of the Caf Champions League, and this was nothing but a warning to their rivals
Mamelodi Sundowns have become the first team to win a Caf Champions League match by more than 10 goals when they hammered Cote d’Or 11-1 on Friday night.
No other team, including the most successful team in the history competition, Al Ahly, has previously achieved this, and the result has undoubtedly sent shockwaves to Sundowns’ continental rivals.
Until Friday night, TP Mazembe were the record holders with that 8-0 win over Club Africain in February this year.
Going into the group stages of the competition, there is no questioning teams will look to avoid Sundowns because no one wants to be humiliated the way Cote d’Or were.
Just last season, the 2016 African champions stunned Al Ahly 5-0 in Tshwane on their way to the semi-finals.
These are the scorelines that earn respect across the continent as teams take notice of your pedigree and eagerness to want to lift the coveted trophy, and it’s no secret Sundowns still want more Caf Champions League titles, and the win over Cote d’Or was proof enough.
Gaston Sirino, Mamelodi Sundowns, September 2019
In March 2012, Sundowns broke the South African record for the most goals in a single match when they smashed Powerlines FC 24-0 in the Nedbank Cup, and while they struggled for a few months after that, everyone started taking them seriously.
They went on to dominate the local scene a year later with Mosimane at the helm, and this 11-1 scoreline and 16-1 aggregate win could signal the start of Sundowns’ dominance in the Caf Champions League.
However, there will still have to improve a lot against stronger opponents such as Zamalek, ES Tunis, TP Mazembe and Al Ahly among other African teams in order to achieve their goal of conquering the continent year in and year out.
What made this win special was the fact that Mosimane had a few of his fringe players in the team, including Oupa Manyisa, Sphelele Mkhulise, Kennedy Mweene, and Andile Jali among others, and it’s now up to the technical team to decide if they have done enough to warrant a starting berth going forward.
And we can only imagine just how rampant they would have been had the likes of Hlompho Kekana and Tiyani Mabunda been in the starting line-up.
But Sundowns fans can rest assured that they have enough depth to beat any team at any given time this season.
Thapelo Morena of Sundowns clears ball away from Kassah Voavy of Cote D’Or, September 2019
Going into the return leg against Cote d’Or, Sundowns players knew the tie was already over as they scoreline was 5-0 before the start of the match, but they still showed professionalism and played with the intent to win and score as many goals as they could create.
Thousands of fans at Lucas Moripe Stadium expected the Brazilians to win but no one thought they’d go out there and thump Cote d’Or the way they did.
Sibusiso Vilakazi was also at his best and this will go down as one of the most memorable games he has played in a Sundowns shirt.
He scored a first-half hat-trick in that demolishing of Cote d’Or; his first treble since arriving from Bidvest Wits two seasons ago, and Mosimane is slowly being vindicated for spending millions of Rands to lure him to Chloorkop.
If this Sundowns’ performance against Cote d’Or didn’t make every coach panic and ask themselves questions as to whether or not they have enough depth to compete for this season’s title, then nothing will, but for Mosimane, it cemented his status as one of the best managers of his generation on the continent.
This record may be broken in the not too distant future given the unpredictable nature of the Champions League, but the fact remains, Sundowns and Mosimane will go down as the first to achieve this remarkable scoreline.