Mamelodi Sundowns flew the country’s flag high on Sunday, 12 November, bagging the inaugural African Football League crown after a 2-0 (3-2 on aggregate) victory at a packed Loftus Versfeld Stadium. 

Following the spectacular feat, head coach Rulani Mokwena shared insights from a brief conversation he had with FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, who praised the team’s style of play. 

“If I can tell you something, as I walked onto the stage, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president and our former club president congratulated me, and as I walked to the FIFA president Mr. Infantino, the first thing he said to me was ‘your team plays magnificent football’,” Mokwena revealed to journalists in the press conference.

“As I always say the game belongs to the players but we… Heavy is the head that carries the crown. I think sometimes we all forget that by nature football is a low-scoring game.

“We see how much of a difference a half-fit Peter Shalulile makes, a half-fit Lucas Ribeiro makes to this team,” he continued.

“And for this team to do what they’ve done without recognised strikers, the sacrifices from all these players, I think Mkhulise has played as a false 9, Themba Zwane has played as a false 9, Tebogo Mokoena has played slightly higher up away in Morocco.

“We’ve been asked whether we’ would’ll change our style of play, it’s very difficult because this club has a certain identity and we try by all means to always play well, we’re not always going to win every game 4-0 or 6-0 because the reality is football by nature is a low-scoring game.

“And in Cup finals you rarely see one team dominate the other…”

With spirits high in the Sundowns camp, the current Premier Soccer League log leaders will not only look to celebrate this victory with the club’s faithful, but also prepare to add further silverware to their trophy cabinet as the 2023/24 season continues to unfold.