Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies claimed a hard fought 1-0 win over tournament defending champs AS FAR Rabat of Morocco at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, to book a spot in the CAF Women’s Champions League final.
The only goal of the match came in the 73rd minute, courtesy of Boitumelo Rabale.
Rabale expressed her relief with the team’s winning performance against their defensive-minded opponents.
“The game was cagey at times because we felt they were more focused on not conceding goals rather than scoring. But despite the contrasting styles of tactics, we did very well in ensuring the victory. We are happy to be in the semifinals and we are ready for the next game,” stated Rabale.
The victory is sweet revenge for Banyana Ba Style, having lost 4-0 to the Moroccan outfit in the final of the same competition last year.
The result means Masandawana have now made it four wins in as many matches, recording a maximum nine points, six goals without conceding, in the tournament, held in Côte d’Ivoire.
A delighted Coach Jerry Tshabalala said the team now needs to work on minor shortcoming as they prepare for the final.
“We are in the final, I warned you. I would like to sincerely thank the people of Korhogo. We feel at home. Now, we will have to correct our little shortcomings to be at the top on Sunday and offer an extraordinary finale to this audience,” said the coach.
The Brazilians were unstoppable going into the semi-finals, holding off challenges from JKT Queens (Tanzania), SC Casablanca (Morocco) and hosts Atlético Abidjan (Côte d ‘Ivoire).
Masandawana battled it out with another Moroccan side, debutants SC Casablanca in the final set to take place on Sunday (19 November), at 22h00 SA time.
The two sides will be meeting for the second time in this competition after their group stage match-up, which was won by the Downs 1-0.
This will be Sundowns third Champions League final in a row, in the tournament that was formed by CAF three years ago.
