African stars are shining all over the world, but this week the spotlight was on the continent with one manager rising as a giant among his competitors.
On Sunday, Rulani Mokwena etched his name into the history books when his Mamelodi Sundowns beat Wydad Casablanca by two goals to nil (3-2 on aggregate) to become the victors of the first-ever African Football League tournament.
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It was not by any means an easy journey, with the South African tactician and his side having had to overcome a fair amount of hurdles on their road to glory.
Their journey to continental greatness began in October when they kicked off their AFL campaign against Petro de Luanda with a 2-0 win in the first leg.
Their second encounter with the Angolan side proved a little more difficult. Masandawana held out for a goalless draw after defender Mothobi Mvala was sent off in only the second minute of the game. Playing with a man down for basically the entire 90 minutes, Mokwena and his men held on to progress to the semi-final stage of the competition.
Things, however, would not get easier after they learned that their next opponents would be Egyptian giants Al Ahly. This proved to be an even tighter affair, with Downs managing to escape the first leg with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a 52nd minute goal by Thapelo Maseko.
One could argue that the SA side should have buried the tie there and then after they registered 14 shots, with four hitting the target, and controlled possession with 68% of it on the day.
The man dubbed "Pep-lite" also felt like the odds were stacked against him and his side after what he believed to be poor officiating, with Mokwena having also expressed his disappointment at the way the Egyptian team "complained" prior to the game as well as during it.
"I am very surprised that Al Ahly complained about everything. Before the first-leg Al Ahly complained that we played at 3 pm and yet they are allowed to fixture the game at their time that suits them and you hear no complaints from Sundowns," he said as per GOAL.
"My question after the complaints is – what is the intention? I can go through a list of incidents where the referees did not act in what I thought was the just way. When you lose, you shake hands and show good sportsmanship, especially when the opponent is better than you."
Much like the last round against Petro, they headed into the second leg with an advantage. Also like the previous round, they had a man sent off, only this time it was Junior Mendieta. However, Mokwena proved his status as a tactician as he guided his team to a hard-fought 0-0 draw that saw them reach a place where the title was in their view.
Undeterred by the obstacles presented to him by officials, he remained firm in the belief he had in his players and what he has built during his time at Masandawana.
"We are proud of ourselves, we are Mamelodi Sundowns, a team that has received a lot of praise for their style of play and for the tactics we use. But also, we are proud of ourselves because we are proud of our culture, of our history which is associated with Brazilians in terms of our jersey colours," he said, per the AFL's official website.
"That's why we try to play in a certain way, we believe in the talent and qualities of our players, of course with a lot of respect to our opponents, the qualities they show and their style of play that they try to impose on the pitch."
The final, spread over two legs, between Downs and Wydad promised to be a sensational watch for viewers around the continent, and the world too. As expected, it did not at all disappoint.
The Moroccan side ended up with the advantage heading into the second leg after beating Mokwena's side by two goals to one in Casablanca. However, the South African tactician really showed his class in defeat.
Despite claiming that Les Rouges' Yahya Jabrane should have been sent off for "stopping a goalscoring opportunity", he took responsibility for the loss and showed belief in his side to go on and turn the tie around back home in Mzansi.
"First of all, as a coach I take personal responsibility for the results we picked today. We lost our structure and were unlucky to concede the first goal. Regarding the second goal, we failed to deal with a cross and were punished for it," he said. "However, having said that, there are plenty of positives we picked from the match and believe 100% that we are going to do better in the second leg."
With the home supporters spurring them on, being one goal down, the boss took to the field with the odds stacked against him and his team, hopeful of being able to sway things in their favour. They only had to wait until the end of the first half, when Peter Shalulile latched on to a rebound to draw his side level.
The tie was then decided when Aubrey Modiba slotted the ball neatly into the back of the net after beating two players. That was the second time in quick succession that a chance came from Sundowns winning the ball in their opponents' defensive third, showcasing Mokwena's tactical foresight to set those opportunities up by pushing his attackers higher up the pitch, and blocking out the advanced options for the Wydad players, forcing them to go back if they wanted to retain possession.
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Nevertheless, Mokwena went on to mastermind a now-famous AFL triumph and has added to his already impressive trophy cabinet that also includes three domestic league titles. And at just 36 years of age, the possibilities for him appear endless!
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