THERE are three reasons for Mamelodi Sundowns to be optimistic ahead of their Caf Champions League final second leg against Pyramids FC in Cairo on Sunday night.
ONE – That’s the number of times clubs who were held 1-1 in the first leg they hosted have gone on to win the continent’s premier club competition.
The South African champions were shell-shocked by a last-gasp equalizer from Walid El Khatari at Loftus Versfeld last weekend when they seemed to have given themselves an advantage towards adding a second star above their club’s crest.
While Pyramids celebrated that result as though they’d already been crowned champions, the reality is that the match is evenly-poised and Miguel Cardoso and his team have just as good a chance of winning as their hosts.
And there is precedent to leave the Brazilians confident – they will return victorious and win their second continental title since they beat Zamalek in the self-same Cairo back in 2016.
Since the inception of the competition way back in 1964, there have been six finals that produced a 1-1 draw in the first leg. And half of those have seen the away team victorious while the other went in the home team’s favour.
Asante Kotoko and Al Ahly (twice) have been crowned continental champions after being held 1-1 in their own backyard and it is those results that coach Miguel Cardoso and his men must draw inspiration from.
Back in January of 1971, Kotoko saw their first half lead being cancelled out by the visitors shortly after the break at the Kumasi Stadium and their continental dreams were for all intents and purposes dead and buried.
But they went to Kinshasa and managed a 2-1 victory – the winner coming ten minutes before the end – for the first of their two continental titles.
Ahly were held 1-1 by Sfaxien in 2006 but their talismanic striker Mohamed Aboutreika who had scored in the opener in the first leg delivered the killer blow in injury time to hand The Red Devils the title in Tunis.
Six years later Ahly were at it again in Tunis that time beating Esperance 2-1 after the Blood and Gold had held them 1-1 in Cairo.
And they will be particularly chuffed that their opponents were losers in Cairo back in the 2001 final, Ahly beating the Brazilians 3-0 following a 1-1 draw at Loftus.
There was also another South African defeat in the Egyptian capital in 2013, Pirates being beaten 2-0 by the Red Devils whom they’d held 1-1.
Another home victory following a 1-1 draw was achieved by Wydad Casablanca against Ahly in 2017.
Two – That history aside, Sundowns have also previously beaten Pyramids in their own backyard and that should see them trotting on to the pitch of the June 30 Stadium confident they will have their hands on the new trophy.
The two clubs met in the group phase of last year’s competition at the same venue and Sundowns won courtesy of a Teboho Mooena goal.
The talismanic midfielder will once again be a key player as Sundowns seek to conquer the continent yet again with his thunderbolt shots from range and powerful free kicks can be crucial to help the South African team pierce Pyramids open.
Striker Lucas Ribeiro scored in the first leg and will be brimming with confidence having won not only the South African golden boot but the Footballer of the Month award for May. Coach Cardoso was also adjudged the best for the month, factors that should work in Sundowns’ favour.
Three – Ordinarily, having conceded at home is a disadvantage, but Sundowns have managed to score away to Esperance and Al AHly and should be able to do the same at Pyramids.
