Although Mamelodi Sundowns' dominance in South Africa seems to be spreading to the continent too, it would be a gross overestimation to suggest that their success could inspire Bafana Bafana to a first Africa Cup of Nations title since 1996.
27 years have gone by since South Africa won their maiden AFCON title on home soil at their first attempt. The upcoming edition in the Ivory Coast next month will the 11th time they have qualified for the tournament, although the team missed the 2021 showpiece in Cameroon. The road to qualification for the next edition was made easier by the fact that CAF disqualified Zimbabwe from the 2023 AFCON qualifiers after the Warriors failed to get their FIFA ban lifted in time. This meant that Hugo Broos' side only faced Morocco and Liberia from their qualifying group, which eventually led to them booking their spot in the competition after collecting seven points from four group games. A 2-1 victory over Morocco in June served as a highlight from their road to qualification.
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In the lead-up to that game, Morocco boss Walid Regragui singled out Sundowns players as having a big impact on Bafana. "Now it's two teams that have qualified, so the pressure is not on either team. Bafana has qualified, Morocco has qualified, so I think it's a different spirit on the pitch," the manager said in June, according to SABC. "And I know this team, a lot of players are from Mamelodi Sundowns who want to play good football, it's an offensive squad, so it's a [tough] game for us."
Regragui's public endorsement of Downs seems to have withstood the test of time as the club has since gone on to win the inaugural edition of African Football League, CAF's newest and lucrative flagship tournament, in November. Moreover, Masandawana's reign of dominance has led to even more suggestions their success could inspire Bafana to a deep run at AFCON as the core of the national team includes Sundowns players such as Ronwen Williams, Themba Zwane, Mothobi Mvala, Khuliso Mudau, Teboho Mokoena and Thapelo Morena. In fact, no club has more players in Broos' 50-man provisional squad than the Brazilians (10 players).
Indeed, we have witnessed nations that are dominated by players from one club go on to achieve great success at international events. Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup-winning 23-man team consisted of eight FC Barcelona players, with Barca players at the time such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, David Villa, and Sergio Busquets forming the core of La Furia Roja.
However, it is quite a tall order to suggest that the Sundowns influence could produce similar magic for Bafana. Although there is a compelling argument that Downs players have the experience of playing all over the continent, winning a tournament like AFCON requires a lot more than that. The reality is that the quality at AFCON is greater than that in CAF's interclub competitions and it would be gravely unjust to place the expectations of South Africa primarily on the shoulders of Sundowns' players in the team.
Coach Rulani Mokwena has done a remarkable job in getting his side to the level they are now at, but there's a huge contrast in the way he sets up his team to that of Broos. The idea that having a group of about five Sundowns players in the starting XI for Bafana will instantly yield a bit of success seems wishful, to say the least. Broos plays a less imaginative style of football and has often made his teams play in a conservative way. In 15 of the Belgian's 23 matches in charge so far, Bafana have failed to score more than one goal in a game. While the likes of Zwane and Mokoena have a moment of brilliance in their lockers, it will take far more than having a large group of Sundowns players involved to win AFCON, a tournament littered with world-class talents such as Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, and Victor Osimhen, to name just a few!
Opinion by Lukhanyo Mtuta
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