Mamelodi Sundowns win 2016 CAF Champions League

Mamelodi Sundowns Players Celebrating

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa were on Sunday crowned winners of the 2016 CAF Champions League after a 3-1 aggregate defeat of former champions Zamalek SC of Egypt in Alexandria.

The new champions lost 0-1 in the second leg clash, but they benefitted from a 3-0 first leg advantage earned a week earlier.

It was sufficient to earn South Africa their second club continental title, after Orlando Pirates’ win in 1995, silencing the home crowd at the El Borg Arab Stadium.

It was a lively start to the final clash that saw Zamalek doing a lot of running and piling a lot of pressure on the Mamelodi Sundowns’ defence.

Sundowns were however quite comfortable sitting back and allowing the hosts pile on the pressure, while they relied on counter-attacks.

Goalkeeper Denis Onyango however did well to calm the nerves of his side in the opening minutes of the pulsating encounter.

The Ugandan indeed established himself as one of the best on the continent as he pulled off several vital saves for Sundowns to keep scores goalless in the first 20 minutes.

But relentless pressure by Zamalek saw Onyango being replaced by Wayne Sandilands in the 28th minute after picking up an injury.

Sandilands who was playing arguably the biggest game of his career made some top saves of his own to keep scores 0-0 at the end of the first half.

The second half began like the first as Zamalek had a greater percentage of ball possession, but Sundowns’ defence held firm until about 30 minutes left on the clock.

Sundowns’ defence gave in to Zamalek’s pressure after Nigerian striker Stanley Ohawuchi hammered home a low shot from long range in the 64th minute.

Goalkeeper Sandilands should have done better, with the ball slipping in underneath his gloves.

The Egyptians continued to pile wave after wave of pressure as the game wound down.

The South Africans nevertheless calmly held on for a famous 3-1 aggregate win to be crowned African champions.

Comments

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...

Global Naija Info

Search This Blog