Sundowns crash out of Africa

2006-04-02 20:52

Johannesburg - Mamelodi Sundowns courted disaster in a calamitous second-leg, second round Caf Champions League game against Uscafoot at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon - and paid a grim penalty.

Sundowns drew 2-2 with their unfashionable Madagascar opponents after the first-leg between the teams had also finished level at 1-1 and were eliminated from Africa's richest and most prestigious club event on the away goal rule.

But the team who have adopted the nickname of Brazilians have themselves to blame to a quite considerable degree for their crushing setback after leaving the prolific scoring and in-form "Shakes" Ngwenya and a number of other first-choice players on the bench in the mistaken belief victory was something of a formality.

It was a miscalculation Sundowns were to rue dearly, with the grim benificiaries of the blunder quite possibly the joint coaches who enacted the decision.

Neil Tovey and Miguel Gamondi are effectively on trial until the end of the season and ambitious Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe is not known to react kindly in the face of blunders - particularly one that might be construed to have detonated his ambition to elevate The Brazilians to a position as one of the leading teams in Africa.

Away goal rule

Ngwenya was belatedly summoned to the pitch in the 62nd minute immediately after Sundowns had slumped to a 2-1 deficit - which, because of the away goal rule, meant they needed to score twice to gain the lead.

It was a move embodied in desperation, which, not surprisingly under the tense and trying circumstances, proved a case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.

A shell-shocked Sundowns battled to secure goals in the final 30 minutes against a stoic, but well-marshalled Uscafoot defence and were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty for a blatant handball in the 74th minute.

Referee Justine Faduga was hopelessly out-of-position in the opposite half of the pitch at the time and was one of the few present who apparently failed to spot the relevant incident.

Sundowns finally made the score 2-2 in the 89th minute through a close-range, volleyed goal from Sandile Ndlovu, but it was, as the cynics like to proclaim, a case of too little, too late.

The imminent danger facing Sundowns was apparent as early as the seventh minute when Uscafoot's Rivo scythed through a lop-sided, flat-footed defence to open the score.

Surprise Moriri equalised for Sundowns in he 36th minute with a snappy header following a corner, but Uscafoot's alert Ima Faneva outpaced Vuyo Mere, goalkeeper Andre Arendse and Neil Winstanley to score the goal's decisive goal and emphasise the general disarray throughout in The Brazilians' defence.

- SAPA