Modiba calls for fighting spirit from Sundowns as AFL glory beckons

Aubrey Modiba has called on his teammates to show the same hunger and desire as Mamelodi Sundowns look to conquer yet another North African giant in the final of the inaugural African Football League (AFL).

LISTEN: Sundowns show Al Ahly who’s boss

Sundowns stunned 50 000 fans at Cairo International Stadium when they knocked Caf Champions League record holders Al-Ahly out of the AFL on Wednesday to set up a two-legged final showdown against the stubborn Wydad Casablanca.

Wydad also fought to the bitter end to reach the AFL final with a nail-biting 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Esperance after the semi-final tie ended 1-1 on aggregate.

The Moroccan side knocked the Brazilians out of last season’s Champions League in the semi-final stage. The two African heavyweights will once again battle for supremacy and for the right to be crowned champions of the newly-formed knockout competition.

“Everyone is happy as you can see. We have two more games to go but we are just happy to be in the final,” Modiba said when reflecting on their 1-0 aggregate win over Ahly.

“They (Al-Ahly) were looking for an early goal so we expected them to have more numbers in attack. You can see how they started the game so it was up to us to contain them and play our normal game even though it was difficult.

“We had to dig deep to get the draw and get to the final. We fought for one another and we should keep the same spirit going forward. Everyone is so happy that we have reached our first African continental final and hopefully we can put up another good performance,” added Modiba.

Masandawana are already guaranteed $3-million, which translates to over R55-million by virtue of being in the final. Should Rulani Mokwena and his charges go all the way in the lucrative competition, they will bank the $4-million (over R73-million) prize money.

“(We’re) very close to glory, two more games. Listen to me, you guys will decide to write another story,” Mokwena said in a rallying cry to his players after the game in Cairo.

ALSO READ: Mokwena hails Sundowns character after reaching AFL final

“Only you can (write the story), in the last three seasons of the Champions League, we got knocked out by Petro de Luanda, then we got knocked out by Wydad and tonight who did we finish? Al-Ahly… so Wydad is coming, you have to finish it. It’s written in the stars but you have to believe it.”

The first leg will be played at The Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca before the return match in Tshwane on November 11.