Mamelodi Sundowns are only the second team to be crowned CAF Champions League winners, since Orlando Pirates won it in 1995, but why has it taken more than a decade for another PSL team to claim the prestigious title?
Prior to ending off runners-up of the CAF Champions League in 2013, Pirates won the competition for the first time in 1995 under the mentorship of Joe Frickleton.
In an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma, South Africa's Minister of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula shared his opinions on why it has taken so long for another PSL team to be crowned champions of the African continent.
"Every team, to get to that glorious position, has got to invest financially in terms of both human knowhow and material resources. You need to buy more players. If you look at both the squads of Pirates and Sundowns, getting into this championship and fighting to win, you will realise that it is a huge squad, which covers a huge expense," Mbalula told the Siya crew.
Read more: Permit Issues Halt Serero's England Move
Mbalula thinks that playing in Africa needs both the resources and the mindset, to not just participate, but compete and go all the way to be crowned champions of the competition.
"It is a huge sacrifice, so you prepare and decide that the day you win the league and are going to Africa, you are not just going to Africa to become a statistic. You are going there to compete and win if possible, and that is what Sundowns have done. That is what Pirates have done," he added.
To read the full exclusive interview with Fikile Mbalula, check out the monumental edition of Soccer Laduma, issue number 1000.
