Mamelodi Sundowns celebrate after beating Esperance of Tunisia in their CAF Champions League quarter-final match.
Image: Backpagepix
While their North African counterparts showed more fight in the stands than on the actual playing pitch, Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC showcased their class and resilience on it.
It’s been an incredible week for South African teams in the CAF continental competitions, with all three Betway Premiership outfits making it through to the semi-final of their respective competitions.
In the CAF Champions League, Sundowns and Orlando Pirates showed their killer instinct and tactical maturity against North African heavyweights, with Sundowns knocking out Tunisia’s Espérance and the Buccaneers dispatching of Algeria’s MC Alger.
Sundowns won 1-0 at home before grinding out a 0-0 draw away, securing a 1-0 aggregate victory. Pirates cruised through with a 3-0 aggregate win, following a 1-0 win in Algeria before completing the job at home.
However, continental rookies Stellenbosch were the big surprise package on Wednesday, when they completed “Mission Impossible” by ousting Egyptian giants and defending champions Zamalek to reach the Confederation Cup semi-final. Their 1-0 win away in Egypt will go down as one of the great results in their short history.
There is a real possibility that we will have our first all-South African CAF Champions League final, with Pirates and Sundowns taking on Egyptian teams Al-Ahly and Pyramids in their respective semi-finals.
Stellenbosch face Tanzanian side Simba in their last-four clash on the Confederation Cup.
With the South Africans flying and the North African teams floundering, it begs the question if there is a shift in power towards the south from the north.
The resurgence of Bafana Bafana over the last few years under Hugo Broos also adds to the debate, especially after they finished third at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and have gone on an 18-match unbeaten run in competitive matches.
Historically, North African teams such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia have been dominant forces. Egypt alone has won AFCON seven times, and North African clubs have long ruled the CAF Champions League, with teams like Al Ahly and Zamalek racking up titles.
However, while Morocco had a magical run to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the North African teams have gone off the boil on the continent.
North Africa didn’t have a single team in the quarter-final stage of the 2023 AFCON, after Bafana knocked out Morocco in the round of 16. In fact, Bafana have won two of their last three matches against the Atlas Lions.
Egypt’s Al Ahly are still the team to beat in the Champions League and their two-legged semis against Sundowns are going to be really tasty.
But Bafana’s campaigns in Africa, as well as Sundowns, Pirates and Stellenbosch's runs in the continental club competitions shows that South Africa’s team don’t just roll over when confronted with pressure and hostile crowds away from home. In fact, they are embracing those challenges.
South African football is slowly but surely getting where we belong, at the bottom of the continent geographically but heading towards the top of the football ladder.
Hopefully Sundowns and Pirates can confirm this summation and contest the first all-South African CAF Champions League. That would surely be prima facie evidence of how the football landscape on the continent is changing.
@JohnGoliath82