The South African Football Association (SAFA) would like to congratulate Mamelodi Sundowns for winning the CAF Champions League title.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) would like to congratulate Mamelodi Sundowns for winning the CAF Champions League title.
The South African champions beat Zamalek of Egypt 3-1 on aggregate having prevailed 3-0 at home and narrowly losing 1-0 on Sunday in Alexandria.
“I would like to congratulate Sundowns for their double achievement – becoming the Champions of Africa as well as qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup which will take place in Tokyo, Japan from 8-18 December,” said SAFA President, Dr Danny Jordaan.
“To club President Patrice Motsepe and coach Pitso Mosimane, I would like to say you deserve all the accolades and you truly led from the front. This is a historical first for a South African club to qualify for the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup.”
The SAFA President said such an opportunity (of playing in FIFA Club World Cup) puts Sundowns in line to play against some of the world club heavyweights like Real Madrid, Athletico Nacional of Columbia and Mexico’s Club America.
“I want to wish Sundowns all the best in their next assignment and I am confident they are up to the challenge. They showed their tenacity and technical know-how in overcoming Zamalek over the two legs.
This victory will serve South African football very well and will help in building a competitive Bafana Bafana side which is part of our Vision 2022,” said the SAFA President adding that club success the world over always has positive spin offs on the success of national teams.
“The success of Spain is mainly because of the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Europe and globally, so is Germany where the success of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund has always worked for the betterment of the country’s national team.
Therefore, it is important that our clubs compete successfully in continental tournaments in order to build successful national teams. Generally, all our teams have improved in major tournaments in the recent past and Downs’ victory in the Champions League is clearly the cherry on top.
In conclusion and on behalf of SAFA and football family, we want to reiterate our congratulations to coach Pitso Mosimane, his technical team, the players and the loyal Sundowns fans; South Africa stands tall on the African continent once again. Well done,” concluded Dr Jordaan.
South African Football Achievement globally since 2013
- U/17 (CAF AFCON finalists, Qualified for FIFA World Cup in Chile)
- U/20 (COSAFA Champions, Commonwealth Champions in Russia, Qualified for AFCON in Senegal and now Zambia)
- U/23 (Qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics)
- Bafana Bafana (Qualified for 2015 AFCON in Equatoria Guinea and 2016 COSAFA Champions)
- Banyana Banyana (AFCON Semi-finalists (2013), Qualified for Rio 2016 and AFCON 2016, Cameroon)
- Mamelodi Sundowns (2016 CAF Champions League winners, Qualified for 2016 FIFA Club World Cup, first SA club to qualify for this prestigious competition)