In a room where Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund had their FIFA Club World Cup jerseys on display, Mamelodi Sundowns caught the most attention, thanks to their legends.
On Tuesday evening, in New York, Sundowns legends Hlompho Kekana, Tiyani Mabunda and Teko Modise attended a Puma event, where the jerseys designed in collaboration with Kid Super were on display in exhibition style.
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The yellow and blue jerseys of Sundowns were on display with City, Dortmund, Al-Hilal, FC Salzburg, Palmeiras, and Monterrey also there for the public to see and admire.
Kekana and Mabunda, in particular, made it their mission to make the bright yellow jersey of Sundowns a big topic of the night. They mingled with the crowd and got to share a moment with former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott.
Speaking to Soccer Laduma at the event on Tuesday evening, club ambassador and 2016 CAF Champions League winner Mabunda gave his thoughts on the jerseys which will be worn for the duration of the Club World Cup.
“When I saw it for the first time, my thought was ‘when am I getting it?’ It’s a totally different kind of approach. It’s very creative and you can see that there is a lot of thought that went into it,” Mabunda said to Soccer Laduma.
“To bring a youth kind of feel in terms of the design…as you can see there is a lot of new intake on it. It’s something wonderful. It’s got that artistic type of vibe where you can wear it outside of the pitch. As a player, you always want to see innovations coming into the game.
Mabunda was part of the Sundowns team which participated in a different format of the Club World Cup in 2016. Back then, Sundowns played two matches as they finished sixth in a seven-team tournament. Now there are 32 teams and they’ll have a shot at progressing to the knockout phase via the group stage campaign.
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“Going through the group stages is what would really make me proud and from there, you know anything can happen. You might find Mamelodi Sundowns lifting the trophy,” Mabunda said.
“I think the change makes it much more believable that you can compete. Unlike before, you’d lose the first game and you would not advance to the next stage. But now you’ve got an opportunity to play a few games, which gives you an opportunity, build up momentum and find ways to navigate throughout the tournament.”
Sundowns are in Group F with Ulsan, Dortmund and Fluminense. One thing's for sure, Sundowns are going to stand out with their new jersey. Now it's about making sure that they perform and put the CAF Champions League final disappointment behind them.
Scroll through the gallery to see images from the Puma jersey launch in New York
