Will it be Kekana or someone else who lifts the league trophy for Sundowns?

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has time and time reiterated that Hlompho Kekana remains the skipper of the side, but what puts the spanner in the works is that the 36-year-old has been much of a spectator than a footballer this season, at least by his usual standards.

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The Masandawana captain, who has lifted every title for Sundowns since 2016, is accustomed to averaging no fewer than 30 games per season for the last seven campaigns across all competitions, but in this particular season, he has fallen down the pecking order behind the likes of Andile Jali, Rivaldo Coetzee, Sphelele Mkhulise and Lebohang Maboe.

While he was up on the stands, Ricardo Nascimento and Mosa Lebusa have been passing on the armband among themselves, with Lebusa doing some media responsibility in the Caf Champions League, representing the club as its captain. Perhaps the rationale was that Kekana was not in the squad for the games against Al-Ahly.

Now, who is going to lift the title come June 5 after the man in the middle signals the end of the season at Loftus Versfeld where Downs will take on Cape Town City? Kekana, you see, is a humble man. Either one of two things could happen.

If he doesn’t play the match, as that has been the case for most of the campaign, either Lebusa or Nascimento will skipper the side. And on a couple of occasions, Kekana would come off the bench and refuse to take the armband from whoever had it wrapped around his arm. I remember a game against AmaZulu when he came on, Nascimento was captain, and when Kekana stepped in, he rightfully tried to hand over the strap to Kekana, who humbly gestured “it’s okay, keep it on”.

In the case of hoisting the trophy up in the air, Kekana could actually pass on that responsibility to either Nascimento or Lebusa, unless if it is agreed up that as club skipper, he should lift the trophy regardless of his involvement. In 2012 when Chelsea won the Uefa Champions League, vice captain Frank Lampard lifted the big-ears silverware instead of captain John Terry who did not play on the night.

In this case, time will tell.