Sundowns win African Super Cup

A late penalty by centre back Ricardo Nascimento clinched a first ever African Super Cup for South African club Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday as they beat TP Mazembe Englebert, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld.The 83rd-minute spot-kick was all the home side had to show for a dominant performance in which only Mazembe goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo stood between Sundowns and a runaway score.The Ivory Coast international goalkeeper pulled off a host of brilliant stops to keep his side in the game until full back Issam Mpeko was penalised for a wild lunge on Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana and Brazil-born Nascimento stepped up to convert.Sundowns winger Anthony Laffor had three close-range efforts saved by Gbohouo while a series of other chances also went begging.It was Sundowns' first triumph in the African Super Cup, an annual one-off game between the winners of the continent's two major club competitions, the Champions League and the African Confederation Cup - having won the Champions League for the first time in October. Coach Pitso Mosimane was happy to bask in the glory of his side's CAF Super Cup win over TP Mazembe.Mosimane, already a CAF Champions League winner and CAF Coach of the Year for 2016, completed his trophy haul with the last remaining African title he wanted.“It's unbelievable, what an emotional night. It was coming, it had to come,” he said on SuperSport TV after the victory at Loftus Stadium.“We were a little bit nervous in front of goals but I know it's coming here in Loftus and in Atteridgeville, the goal will come. They had to crack, guys. We dominated.“There is no dispute on this game, we dominated Mazembe, we closed down Rainford Kalaba, we closed down Solomon Asante, we made sure that Nathan Sinkala doesn't bring the ball back easy, we stole a little bit of ball from [Daniel Nii] Adjei, we were unbelievable, what a night.”Mosimane was also convinced the penalty awarded by Egyptian referee Ghead Grisha was the right call after Hlompho Kekana's legs were taken out from under him.“It was a penalty, and also Anton [Laffor] could have scored the other time, Anton gave me a heart attack but I'm back. Look, I don't want to say more, Mazembe were defeated fairly, we dominated and what I'm happy about is that this is one medal I needed to complete in Africa, if I have this then I'm happy, then I can start the [new] cycle.“Thanks to the boys, the management, the Masandawana family, my technical team who have really, really supported, I would not have done it without them, thanks to everybody. It's unbelievable.“We had to settle the score, it's bragging rights also, we're number one in Africa, number one, indisputably.” - additional reporting by KICKOFFNAMPA/REUTERS

Sundowns win African Super Cup

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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Sundowns win African Super Cup

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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