Rulani comes of age as Sundowns see off Wydad to win inaugural AFL

Deep in the bowels of Loftus Versfeld, Rulani Mokwena came of age on a continental scale. 

Regarded as one of the brightest coaches on continent, on Sunday Mokwena, 36, led Mamelodi Sundowns to the inaugural African Football League (AFL) title with a 3-2 aggregate win over bitter rivals Wydad Casablanca. 

The Brazilians lost 2-1 in Casablanca last weekend but they turned the tables in front of a packed and raucous Loftus crowd that included Fifa president Gianni Infantino and his Caf counterpart Patrice Motsepe, to win 2-0 on Sunday for a 3-2 aggregate result.

Strikes from Peter Shaulile three minutes into first-half added time and Aubrey Modiba in the 53rd minute earned Downs a famous victory.

Motsepe, whose brainchild with Infantino the mega-rich AFL is, viewed the club he owns lift the trophy in its first edition. In keeping with handing the running of the club to son and Sundowns chair Tlhopie Motsepe, and maintaining his impartiality as the boss of African football, Motsepe declined to celebrate at the final whistle. 

Winning a tournament with a first prize of R74m — and which has, especially once expanded from its pilot eight sides to 24 teams from next year, the potential to rival the Caf Champions League in stature — Mokwena has markedly increased his reputation as one of the continent's brightest emerging coaches.

He has ended globally ambitious Downs' wait for a second continental trophy to follow the their 2016 Champions League triumph. Mokwena will be a marked man, and the Brazilians a targeted team, in the 2022-24 Champions League. 

Mokwena also erased bitter memories of earlier in the year when Wydad arrived at Loftus to narrowly eliminate Sundowns from the 2022-23 Champions League on away goals in the semifinal stage, via Mothobi Mvala's last-gasp own goal. And Downs overcame the side that has so often been the stumbling block in their way in the quarter or semifinal stage of adding another Champions League title.

Sundowns made three changes to the team that lost by a goal in the first leg in Casablanca on Sunday, with Mosa Lebusa in for injured Rivaldo Coetzee in the heart of the defence. 

In attack, Mokwena sprang a surprise as he included talismanic attackers Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro for Thapelo Maseko and Lesiba Nku, and he was vindicated for that choice. 

Shalulile had not played since the MTN8 final defeat to Orlando Pirates in Durban in October and Ribeiro has not kicked a ball officially since the Champions League qualifier against Burundian minnows Bumamuru in September. 

Wydad did not want Sundowns to find their rhythm in the opening exchanges as they closed the spaces and did not allow Themba Zwane, Aubrey Modiba and Teboho Mokoena time on the ball. 

Wydad central midfielders Zakara Draoui, Hicham Bousseffiane and Abdelah Haimoud came with a plan to disrupt the combination play of Zwane, Modiba, Marcelo Allende and Mokoena. 

The tactic worked a charm as the clock went past the 40-minute mark without Sundowns not having registered a shot on target in a match where they had to score. 

The other ploy Wydad employed was their players going down at every opportunity to frustrate Sundowns' momentum. Another factor negatively affecting the Brazilians was the absence of utility player Coetzee, who is usually influential in initiating their moves from the back. 

Despite their frustrations, Sundowns somehow found the opening goal deep in first-half optional time when Shalulile punished Yousseff El Motie from a tight angle on the right after Wydad's goalkeeper could not hold on to a thunderous shot from Teboho Mokoena. 

Zwane had found space on the left side of the field from where he laid the ball for Mokoena and the Bafana Bafana midfielder unleashed a shot that El Motie parried into the path of Shalulile to do the rest. 

Sundowns increased their lead when Modiba, who had fans on his case in the first half, cleverly put the ball beyond the reach of El Motie after he was allowed to control the ball in the box. 

To manage the game during the closing stages, Mokwena introduced defender Brian Oynango for Shalulile, while Terrence Mashego and Thapelo Maseko were introduced for the tiring Modiba and Zwane. 

At the final whistle, Mokwena was lifted to the skies by members of his technical team and substitutes as Wydad players surrounded referee Jean-Jacques Ndala to express their unhappiness.