November 19 – Ghana’s Hasaacas Ladies and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns will meet in the final of the inaugural Women’s African Champions League to crown the continent’s best club.
The South Africans have not conceded a single goal during the tournament while the Ghanaians have been prolific in the final third, netting ten goals.
“My team has shown that whenever we face a good side, we perform even better,” said Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies coach Jerry Tshabalala. “We saw their strengths and their weaknesses, so we prepared well for them. Strikers win you games, but defenders win you tournaments”.
Alongside FAR Rabat and hosts Wadi Degla, Sundowns, owned by the family of Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe, were pre-tournament favourites. They topped Group B with seven points ahead of the Moroccans and eliminated Malabo Kings from Equatorial Guinea on penalties in the semi-finals.
The Ghanian champions dominated Group B, going unbeaten as well with 7 points. In the last four, they overcome FAR Rabat 2-1 to reach the final.
It’s the first time that CAF has staged the competition. Both UEFA and CONMEBOL have long organised a premier women’s club competition but with the new tournament, CAF wants to develop the women’s game by offering more playing time to clubs and levelling the playing field.
Egypt played host to the two-week tournament, featuring eight teams from across the continent, who had ensured their presence in the finals after winning their regional qualifying competition. Belatedly, CAF announced a limited number of broadcast partners, but the prize money and overall investment by the governing body in the competition remain a mystery.
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