Ugandan international goalkeeper Denis Onyango’s high hopes for a second star in his Sundowns career are shattered. Photo: Sipho Siso

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Mamelodi Sundowns always fumbles when it matters the most in the Caf Champions League as they did in Cairo, Egypt, against newly crowned champions Pyramids FC on June 1. The entire first half of the game belonged to the Egyptians as they wrapped up their 2-1 win and bagged their huge payday cheque of close to a R100 000 million and a brand-new trophy, making the side the first team to engrave their name on it in their maiden season of the champions league football.

If Sundowns was serious about gaining the second star, they could have done so several years ago, especially with astute coach Rhulani Mokwena, still on the helm. The Yellow Machine have been to every annual Caf Champions League tournament for close to a decade now, but they still have nothing to show for it.

The elusive second star has drifted even further away to become a pie in the sky. Masandawana wasted an opportunity to wrap up victory when they played Pyramids FC in the home game of the first leg of the final at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria by allowing the side to come back into contention for the trophy in the last
minute of time added on for a 1-1 stalemate on May 24.

“This was the first suicide committed by Sundowns. They should have done the job then by soundly beating the Egyptians by a big margin of goals to ensure one of their feet was already in the championship bracket. “This would have provided a huge advantage and taken too much pressure off their shoulders in the second and final leg in Cairo,” commented one of the analysts of the game for the local TV station in Johannesburg.

The analyst, who never minced his words, pointed out how Masandawana fumbled the entire first half of the game, describing that first half a wasted 45 minutes. They only came to play in the last 20 or so minutes, especially after Iqraam Rayners pulled one back with his familiar trademark of the poaching mentality goals.

“But what did the coach do, soon after his goal, he took Rayners off, a man who is a livewire and a typical goal poacher of note. Who knows, may be Rayners would have pulled another of his tricks out of the hat and surprised the Egyptians, sending Sundowns into a penalty shootout which a lottery for anyone,” the commentator added.

He bemoaned the failure to add Themba ‘Mshishi’ Zwane into the fray in his late substitutions. “If the coach is not aware, Mshishi is the engine of the play at Sundowns and the fact that he has not played many games since his Bafana Bafana injury late last year, speaks to nothing as the coach played yet another long layoff
player for the first time after injury and he never made any impact at all,” the
commentator added.

He said his other gripe with the coach [Miguel Cardoso] was a lack of a simple game plan for the boys. “It was clear the Egyptians came up with a game plan to stun Masandawana with early goals and make them panic, lose focus and play a haphazard game that will not take them anywhere and it worked well for the Egyptians,” he said.

“You can’t take a team that has been in the Caf Champions League year-in-year-out for the past nine years and occasionally before then as the local season winners where a see-saw – a team that has been in the finals three or so times, including being in the semis several times and being bungled out – and not map out a clear-cut game plan that will take them to the podium.

“The coach goes on to allow himself to be beaten by a team that is in their maiden season of champions league football. Sundowns are veterans of this league, but they seem to have not learnt anything from that lengthy period in the game. I am sure they have been izinja ze game for more than many other sides from the continent. We deserve better – coach,” the commentator moaned. “I wait to hear what management makes of the display of the team in Cairo and what they think the remedies are going forward,” the commentator concluded his remarks.