Editorial: Sundowns must soar

23 October 2016 - 02:00 By Sunday Times

Amid all the stories that now depress the country, sport must again provide us with one that raises our hopes. By the time we go to bed tonight, a South African team could be crowned African football champions for the first time in 21 years. Mamelodi Sundowns, a team owned by mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, tonight take on Egyptian giants Zamalek in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final.The South Africans go into this match with one hand already on the trophy, having scored three goals without conceding any in the first leg of the final played in Pretoria last week.Despite not being as popular as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, Sundowns have always looked more likely to return South African football to its glory days as one of the dominant forces on the continent.It has long been Motsepe's ambition to make a footballing mark far beyond our borders.He has done so by putting together a formidable team of hugely talented footballers who are led by an experienced and knowledgeable coach in Pitso Mosimane.As a nation we should all rally behind Sundowns this evening, regardless of our domestic football loyalties, or whether we even follow the beautiful game at all.May Sundowns' success mark the dawn of a new era in our country in the same way that the Orlando Pirates victory did in the same competition in 1995, and like Bafana Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations triumph did in 1996. Those two achievements heralded the country's recognition as one of the continent's giant football nations.Ahead of tonight's game in Alexandria, we say to Sundowns players: "The sky is the limit."..

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