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68-863: [REDACTED] Look up msfc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. MSFC stands for: Sports [ edit ] Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission Michigan Stars FC Mickleover Sports F.C. Moroka Swallows F.C. Munster Senior Football Championship Other uses [ edit ] Marshall Space Flight Center , NASA Melbourne Science Fiction Club Multilayer switch Feature Card Maharashtra State Financial Corporation See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "msfc" on Misplaced Pages. Microsoft Foundation Class All pages with titles beginning with MSFC All pages with titles containing MSFC Topics referred to by

136-459: A cosmopolitan area north west of the Pretoria CBD in the early sixties, where it was formed by a group of youngsters residing in the area. The club mentions individuals such as Frank "ABC" Motsepe, Roy Fischer, Ingle Singh and Bernard Hartze and as part of its founding young stars. The newly established team was named Marabastad Sundowns after an amateur club called Sundowns, which existed in

204-479: A few years earlier by UEFA by creating a league/group stage in the tournament and changing the name to the CAF Champions League (in line with UEFA's own Champions League ). CAF also introduced prize money for participants for the first time with the initial offering of US$ 1 million to the winners and US$ 750,000 to the runners-up, making the rebranded competition the richest African club competition at

272-410: A minute apart in the 54th and 56th minutes from Mwanza. Billiat netted a goal in the 86th minute to bring the score to 2–1, leaving 'Downs with much to do in the second leg. In the second leg, 'Downs did what was needed of them by winning the match 2–0, thanks to a goal from Liberian Anthony Laffor in the 5th minute and the young Percy Tau in the 64th minute. Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. reached the final of

340-572: A new sponsor, which was scooped up by French telecommunications giant Orange through the signing of an eight-year deal the following year in July, whose terms were not disclosed. On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giant, TotalEnergies (at the time known as Total S.A. ) secured an 8-year sponsorship package from CAF to support its competitions, including its main competition, the Africa Cup of Nations . Current Sponsors: Each year,

408-511: A one-off final. The 1966 edition introduced the two-legged 'home and away' final, which saw another Malian team AS Real Bamako take on Stade d'Abidjan of Ivory Coast . Real Bamako won the home leg 3–1 but it all came apart for them in the away game in Abidjan as the Ivorians went on to win 4–1 to take the title 5–4 on aggregate. In 1967 when Asante Kotoko of Ghana met TP Mazembe of

476-512: A one-off final. At the start of the competition, the 64 qualified teams enter 2 qualification rounds: the preliminary stage and the first round. After the first qualifying round, the remaining teams are split into four groups of 4, whereas the teams each first-round winner vanquished transfer to the second qualification round of the Confederation Cup for hopes of group stage progression. The winners and runners-up of each group progress to

544-565: A record extending 12th title with a 1–0 aggregate win over Tunisia's Esperance. With the introduction of the Africa Football League in the 2023–24 season, CAF plans to keep the Champions League, as the new competition will not be its replacement. However, media reports speculate that CAF could potentially eliminate the group phase and have the competition exclusively made up of two-legged knockout matchups, as per

612-408: A return to two-legged finals after a 24-month hiatus owing to the pandemic, Al Ahly roared back, got their revenge the following season and wrestled the title back from Wydad, thus claiming their 11th title in 2023 with a 3–2 aggregate win thanks to forward Mohamed Abdelmoneim's tie-breaking goal and successfully defended it for the second time in the space of half a decade (5 years) in 2024 for

680-782: A senior coach to assist the coaching pair. The trio saw off a season which saw the rise of new top scoring marksman, Peter Shalulile and standout signings such as Neo Maema , Rushine De Reuck amongst many others. The club celebrated a successful 5th consecutive league win and a Nedbank Cup which showed that the club was heading in a good direction. 2021/22 was another record breaking league season played under Covid restrictions. Shell Helix Cup Winners : 2018 Telkom Charity Cup Carling Black Label Cup Ohlsson's Challenge Cup NB: South African football clubs started participating in CAF Competitions in 1993, after 16 years of being banned from FIFA due to

748-427: A super team of standout players such as Joel Masilela, Alex Bapela , Isaac Shai , Roger Feutmba and goalkeeper John Tlale amongst others, Sundowns went on to win three consecutive league titles from 1998 to 2000 as well as being Bob Save Super Bowl winners in 1998 and Rothmans Cup winners in 1999. In 2001, Sundowns focused their efforts on continental glory and became only the second South African team to reach

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816-593: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns ) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi , Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League , the first tier of South African football league system. Founded in

884-468: Is the most successful club in the competition's history, having it a record 12 times, including the most recent season and are the current African champions, having beaten Espérance de Tunis 1–0 on aggregate in the 2024 final . Established in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs , the first team to lift the trophy was Cameroonian team Oryx Douala who beat Stade Malien of Mali 2–1 in

952-558: Is used for seeding in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. Pending equality in ranking points, the team receiving more points in the previous season is considered as the higher-ranked team. The club ranking for the 2024–25 CAF Champions League and the 2024–25 CAF Confederation Cup is be based on results from each CAF club competition from the 2019–20 to the 2023–24 seasons. Mamelodi

1020-520: The 2002/03 season , 5th in the 2003/04 season and again 3rd in the 2004/05 season . In 2004, mining magnate Patrice Motsepe bought a 51% share in the club and later took total control of the club by buying the remaining shares, thus becoming the sole owner and shareholder of the club. Under their new owner, Sundowns picked up their first piece of silverware for six years in May 2006 when co-coaches Miguel Gamondi and Neil Tovey oversaw Sundowns' triumph in

1088-533: The 2014/15 season bolstered the Sundowns attacking order that was backed by Hlompho Kekana , Samuel Mabunda , Themba Zwane , Teko Modise and academy wonder Percy Tau . The team finished 2nd in the league in the 2014 season, but won both the Nedbank Cup and Telkom Knockout . This would begin an era dominance in the league and Sundowns won the 2015/2016, 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 league titles on

1156-458: The 2016 CAF Champions League , but were placed back in the competition after Congolese team Vita Club were disqualified from the competition for fielding a suspended player. In their journey for gold, Sundowns opened their campaign with an annulled 2–0 win against Algeria's ES Setif courtesy of Mabunda and Khama Billiat goals. On 26 June 2016, they faced Nigeria club Enyimba International F.C. at Lucas Moripe Stadium . They defeated

1224-543: The 2017 CAF Super Cup in Loftus Versfeld Stadium by defeating TP Mazembe from the DRC in the same season. The club made the bold signings of Gaston Sirino from Bolivar and an ailing Rivaldo Coetzee in 2018. Despite losing a number of valuable players in the previous season, the club maintained good performances in domestic cups, winning a domestic treble (league, Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup ) in

1292-473: The 2018/19 season. In 2020, the team underwent changes in coaching personnel for the first time in almost 7 years and an influx of new players after the departure of Pitso Mosimane. The club appointed former assistant coaches, Rhulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi as joint Head Coaches with the opinion of Manqoba Mngithi prevailing when there isn't consensus. The club's board was keen on appointing South African coaches, and later appointed Steve Komphela as

1360-552: The JPS Knockout Cup against Orlando Pirates with a 2–1 scoreline in the final. This success was followed by a season of heartbreaking losses in 1991, with the team finishing second place in the league and failing to get into any cup final. 1992 was similar under Augusto Palacios , when Sundowns lost both the Top Eight cup and Castle Challenge to rivals Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates respectively, finishing 6th in

1428-514: The two-legged knockout stage for hopes of progression to a one-off final for a chance to lift the trophy for their member association. In October 2004, MTN contracted a four-year deal to sponsor CAF's competitions worth US$ 12.5 million, which at that time was the biggest sponsorship deal in African sporting history. In 2008, CAF put a value of € 100 million for a comprehensive and long-term package of its competitions when it opened tenders for

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1496-464: The '89 season, Sundowns went on a 7-game unbeaten run in the league, but could only win one of their last 6 matches in the league, which ended the club's season at position 5. This prompted the return of Stan Tshabalala , who took the team to the top of the table again in 1990. Sundowns only lost 2 league games during the campaign and won its first treble, managing to win the Top Eight Cup and

1564-465: The 12 highest-ranked countries also enter the tournament, making up a total of 64 in-competition teams. The 12 countries would be ranked based on the performance of their clubs in the previous 5 seasons/editions of the competition (the plain definition of the CAF 5-year ranking ). The number of teams that each association enters into the CAF Champions League is determined annually through criteria as set by

1632-458: The 1940s, also formed in Marabastad. In 1969, Ingle "Jinx" Sigh, one of the founding players for Sundowns and later owner of both Marabastad Sundowns and Pretoria City (which later became SuperSport United F.C. ), decided to sell the club to Dr. Bonny Sebotsane, Dr. Motsiri Itsweng and philanthropist Joseph Ntshimane "Fish" Kekana. The club was moved to the nearby township of Mamelodi and

1700-632: The 1970s, the team plays its home games in the Loftus Versfeld Stadium . It is currently the most successful football club in the South African PSL era. They won the 2016 CAF Champions League , 2017 CAF Super Cup and were voted the 2016 CAF Club of the Year. Domestically, they have also won the Nedbank Cup six times, the MTN 8 four times and the Telkom Knockout four times. They are

1768-464: The 2001 season , the CAF introduced the semi-final stage after group stage, then the top two teams in each group would meet in the semi-finals, with the winners going through to contest the final. Beginning with the 2009 season , the prize money increased to $ 1.5 million for the champions and $ 1 million for the runner-ups. Since the competition rebranded in 1997, teams from North Africa have come to dominate

1836-415: The 2009–10 season saw an impressive run through the second half of the season which propelled the club to second position in the final league standings. The club nevertheless parted ways with coach Hristo Stoichkov . In the 2010–11 season, Antonio Lopez Habas , who was the assistant coach under Stoichkov, took over the reins of the senior team. Sundowns made its best ever start to a League season and topped

1904-563: The 2012 Telkom Knockout final against Bloemfontein Celtic , Neeskens got sacked as the head coach of the Tshwane-based side as the team was also languishing in the relegation zone. On 2 December 2012, Pitso Mosimane took over as head coach and guided a turbulent Sundowns season to 9th place in the league. The 2013/14 season began on a better note, with a 6-game unbeaten streak including a 7-1 thumping of AmaZulu F.C. at home. However, in

1972-602: The 2nd leg by beating the Egyptian club 1–0 with an own goal from Ali Gabr in the 79th minute. The win assured 'Downs a place in the semifinals, but they needed to end their group stage campaign on a high away against Enyimba. Playing with young players, 'Downs succumbed to their first defeat by 3–1 on a rainy slippery field. In the semifinals, they faced Zambian team ZESCO United at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium , where they lost to quick succession goals just

2040-479: The CAF Competitions Committee. The higher an association's ranking as determined by the criteria, the more teams represent the association in the Champions League, and the fewer qualification rounds the association's teams must compete in. The CAF Champions League operates primarily as a knockout competition, with trim-down qualification rounds, a group stage, a two-legged knockout stage and

2108-406: The Champions League, are eligible for the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup . Egyptian clubs have the highest number of victories (18 titles), followed by Morocco with 7. Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco have the largest number of winning teams, with three clubs from each having won the title. The competition has been won by 26 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once. Al Ahly

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2176-611: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (or the DRC for short), both matches ended in draws (1–1 and 2–2 respectively). CAF arranged a play-off, but Kotoko failed to appear and the title was handed to Mazembe, who went on to win the title again the following year. However, the Ghanaians got their revenge in 1970, when Kotoko and Mazembe once again met in the final. Once again, the first game ended 1–1, but against expectation,

2244-451: The Ghanaians ran out 2–1 winners in their away game to lift the title that had eluded them three years earlier. The 1970s saw a remarkable rise in the fortunes of Cameroonian club football, which created the platform of success enjoyed by Cameroonian football at international level today. Between 1971 and 1980 Cameroonian teams won the cup four times, with Canon Yaoundé taking three titles (1971, 1978 and 1980 ) and US Douala lifting

2312-555: The Nigerians 2–1 with goals from Leonardo Castro and Wayne Arendse in the 42nd and 78th minutes, respectively. Their good form continued to Egypt, defeating Egyptian club Zamalek SC with a goal from Mabunda in the 17th minute, followed by an Ibrahim leveller in the 36th minute, prevailing with a 66th-minute goal from their star player Khama Billiat , which ended the match in favour of the Brazilians 2–1. They repeated this in

2380-458: The Ohlsson's Challenge Cup. Despite winning two trophies that year, trouble was brewing in the camp when players, led by Anderson demanded the resignation of coach Tshabalala and his assistant Trot Moloto. Stan resigned from his position, with a record of 54 wins, 29 draws and 25 losses. Captain, Mike Ntombela took charge over the club for four games while the management looked for a coach. In

2448-450: The PSL, the seventh league title in their history. After a slow start to the 2006–07 season, Gamondi and Tovey were relieved of their positions, and Gordon Igesund took over as head coach. Under Igesund, Sundowns defended their title in emphatic style, running away with the trophy. They failed to win the 'double', losing to Ajax Cape Town in the 2007 ABSA Cup final. A stuttering start to

2516-463: The apartheid system. The ban extended from 1976 to 1992. The club has 1 appearance in African Cup of Champions Clubs 1994 and 16 appearances in CAF Champions League from 1999 until now. It has also recorded the biggest victory in the CAF Champions League by defeating Seychelles side Côte d’Or , 11–1 at home and 16–1 on aggregate in the first round of the 2019–2020 season. The club ranking

2584-473: The coach of Sundowns in a bid to awaken the sleeping giant that hadn't won silverware since winning the 2008 Nedbank cup. The Dutch-born coach gave a number of young players from the development team opportunities to impress in the senior team. Even though the Dutch mentor made the team play free-flowing and an entertaining brand of football, his failure to capture silverware led to his demise. On 4 March 2012, under

2652-517: The competition and its records. Morocco's Raja Casablanca won two of the first three editions, but Al Ahly became the most successful team, winning the 2001 , 2005 , 2006 , 2008 and 2012 editions, while Zamalek managed to be champions in 2002 . Tunisian teams broke into the winners' circle with Étoile du Sahel winning the 2007 edition after being a losing finalist in 2004 and 2005 . For its part, Espérance de Tunis achieved its second continental title in 2011 after having lost in

2720-435: The competition for the first time since the 2001 CAF Champions League final (where they lost to Al Ahly SC ). They also reached the 4th final for South African clubs (1 win and 2 losses). In the final, they beat Egypt's Zamalek SC 3–1 on aggregate, claiming their first-ever continental title and becoming only the second South African team to be crowned champions of Africa, after Orlando Pirates . Sundowns went on to win

2788-460: The cup in 1979. In between the Cameroonian victories the honor was shared with another team enjoying a golden age, Guinean side Hafia Conakry , who won it three times during this period (1972, 1975 and 1977 ) Apart from the introduction of the away goals rule , very little changed in this competition until 1997, when CAF under Issa Hayatou took the bold step to follow the lead established

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2856-588: The each season of the competition earns a berth for the FIFA Club World Cup , a tournament contested between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations, faces the winner of the CAF Confederation Cup in the following season's CAF Super Cup and from 2024 onwards, along with the next 4 best teams, a place in the new FIFA Intercontinental Cup . Clubs that finish as runners-up their national leagues, having not qualified for

2924-565: The end of 1986, the club had won the Mainstay cup in a 1-0 brawl against Jomo Cosmos in Ellis Park and goalkeeper, Mark Anderson was voted Footballer of the Year as new players kept arriving. The next season, they finished third in the league, just three points behind champions Cosmos. Sundowns were flying in 1988, with a victory against cross-town rivals Arcadia in the final of BP Top Eight Cup , and then later beating them again for

2992-561: The end of the Federation Professional League and the subsequent relegation of Sundowns to the second division. For five years 'Downs battled to gain promotion and managed to earn its place in NPSL in 1983, but in their first season in top-flight football, they found the going difficult and during that period the Sundowns' management resolved to disband the club, until new owner Zola Mahobe came on board in 1985. In

3060-460: The end of the season, claiming that Mahobe was interfering in team selection. Zola Mahobe appointed Ben Segale as the coach, and the team ended the 1985 season in a flourish by winning the last 4 games to finish 11th place, which was a big improvement on their previous two top flight seasons. Under Mahobe, Sundowns fortunes changed for the better as they began to challenge for top honours in the domestic league. The big spending Sundowns boss recruited

3128-421: The finals in the 1999 , 2000 , 2010 and 2012 editions. Despite the clear dominance of North African teams, Nigerian club Enyimba won their first two titles back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 . ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast and Accra Hearts of Oak from Ghana added two championships for West Africa. In 2010 , TP Mazembe from the DRC became the first club to repeat as champions on two occasions, with

3196-455: The first South African team to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup , where they finished in 6th place. In 2021, Sundowns became the first club in Africa to win both CAF Champions League and CAF Women's Champions League titles. In 2023, Sundowns was crowned the champions of the first African Football League . Sundowns is owned by South African business magnate Patrice Motsepe and is one of

3264-572: The first pair of wins arriving in 1967 and 1968 , before repeating the feat again in 2009 and 2010 . In 2017, the group phase was expanded from 2 groups of 4 teams to 4 groups of 16, with the automatic addition of the quarter-finals stage. The 2020–21 season was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa in line with global football leagues and competitions . Nevertheless, Al Ahly faced bitter rivals Zamalek in an-all Egyptian final (the first time two clubs from

3332-428: The group stage clubs, which was 8 at the time, as follows: This third tranche of the prize money from CAF showed an increase to be shared between the group stage clubs, which increased to 16 from 2017 to date, as follows: * Note: National Associations receive an additional equivalent share of 5% for each amount awarded to clubs. On 16 Aug 2024, CAF announced an increase in the prize money to be shared between

3400-411: The leadership of Neeskens, the team set a remarkable South African record in the Nedbank Cup when they beat Powerlines by a score of 24–0. The club went on to lose the 2012 Nedbank final 2–1 to Tshwane rivals Supersport United . His coaching stint at Chloorkop was short-lived as the impatient and demanding Sundowns supporters exerted pressure to the management to sack him. When the team failed to win

3468-458: The league standings at the end of the first round. The second round of the league proved more competitive and Sundowns were in the hunt for the league title until the second last match. Habas resigned in February, citing personal reasons and went back to Spain. Assistant coach Ian Gorowa was appointed as interim head coach. In 2011, highly rated Dutch tactician Johan Neeskens was appointed as

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3536-440: The league. Jeff Butler was appointed as the coach in 1993 after being turfed in a dispute with Bafana Bafana . He led the club to a 3rd league title win in a close 3 point race against Moroka Swallows and a 4th place league finish in the following year. Sundowns qualified for a continental title for the first time in the 1994 African Cup of Champions Clubs but lost to AS Vita Club in the second round. National Soccer League

3604-516: The mid-season, team performances became inconsistent and Sundowns found itself 11 points behind log leaders Kaizer Chiefs . There was still positivity in the camp however, and Mosimane was confident about a good end to the season. On 9 March 2014, Sundowns began an 11-game unbeaten streak that would end in an emphatic league title win after a 6-year trophy drought. The acquisition of Khama Billiat in August 2013, Keagan Dolly and Leonardo Castro in

3672-511: The most valuable clubs in Africa, by market value. The club takes pride in its unique style of attacking play, locally dubbed "Shoe Shine & Piano" which includes combinations of quick, short passes on the ground and this is likened to the Spanish Tiki-taka and Total Football. Over the years, this style of play has been reflected in its Youth teams and women's football team . Sundowns Football Club originated around Marabastad ,

3740-599: The original format of the African Cup of Champions Clubs era from 1964 to 1996. The CAF Champions League is open to the winners of all CAF-affiliated national leagues, as well as the title holders from the previous season. From the 2004 season onward, with the merging of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup to create the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup , the runners-up of football leagues of

3808-413: The prestigious CAF Champions League Final when they defeated Petro Atlético in the semifinals. The club played the 2001 CAF Champions League Final where they were defeated 4–1 on aggregate by Egyptian club Al Ahly . The club underwent a period of rebuilding after the 1999/2000 season, enduring a period of bad performances in league and cup matches. Sundowns finished 3rd in the 2001/02 season, 10th in

3876-467: The same country compete in any final in the competition's history), with the former emerging victorious and winning its ninth title. Al Ahly successfully defended their title for a record-extending 10th time the following season by beating 10-men Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa, but were unable to secure a 3rd consecutive title in a row and 11th title in 2022 as they were defeated 2–0 by Moroccan club Wydad AC who instead captured their 3rd title. With

3944-405: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title MSFC . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MSFC&oldid=1148147662 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4012-535: The same year, 1985, South African football was the first sport in the country to become non-racial and the National Soccer League was formed, incorporating the top clubs in the country, including Sundowns. Dave Barber was in charge at the start of the new National Soccer League era but his tenure came to a swift end after the club found itself at the foot of the table and Zola Mahobe appointed Walter da Silver. Da Silver later quit after 5 games before

4080-404: The same year, the ownership of the club fell into the hands of Standard Bank, which repossessed the club from Zola Mahobe. The club went into liquidation and the football family Angelo and Natasha Tsichlas spoke to the bank and saved the club. They then formed a company with Abe Krok and bought 100% of the club. Chilean coach, Mario Tuane and his assistant Angelo Tsichlas took charge of a club at

4148-597: The services of elite South African footballers on a quest for supremacy, and changed their kit to resemble that of the Brazilian national team , earning them their nickname, "the Brazilians". Mahobe went to Soweto to acquire the services of the highly rated coach Stanley "Screamer" Tshabalala , who was assisting Blackpool at the time, to lead the ambitious Sundowns team. Under the tutelage of Screamer Tshabalala , Sundowns played an entertaining and effective brand of football which became known as "The Shoe Shine and Piano." By

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4216-400: The time. In the new format, the league champions of the respective CAF member countries go through a series of qualification rounds until a round of 16 stage. The 8 winners are then drawn into two groups of 4 teams each, with each team playing each other on a home and away basis. At the end of the league stage, the top team in each group met in the final, in two-legged games (home and away). In

4284-496: The top of the table and led it to its first league championship. There were rapturous celebrations at HM Pitje Stadium after Sundowns gained an unassailable point lead over Cosmos. However, the club could not defend the Ohlsson's challenge and BP Top Eight crowns and the Tuane era came to an end, with Angelo Tsichlas taking charge of the team as a caretaker coach until the club appointed Trott Moloto , and shortly after Stan Lapot . In

4352-472: The trot. 2015/16 was a record breaking season, which saw Sundowns become the first team to break the 70 point ceiling in the league since the South African top flight league became a 16-team league system. In 2017, Mosimane oversaw Sundowns' first CAF Champions League win, which was the goal of owner Patrice Motsepe when he bought the club in 2004. Sundowns were eliminated in the preliminary rounds of

4420-532: The winning team is presented with the CAF Champions League, the current version of which has been awarded since the competition name change in 1997. Forty gold medals are presented to the competition winners and 40 silver medals to the runners-up. Following the competition rebranding to its current name in 1997, CAF introduced prize money for the eight participants in group stage for the first time in an African club football competition. This first tranche lasted until 2008. CAF increased prize money to be shared between

4488-562: Was officially established and renamed as Mamelodi Sundowns in 1970. The club was affiliated with the Federation Professional Football League in 1973 and in the same year reached the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup, where they played against Berea United and lost 5–3. In 1978, the Federation Professional League threw their weight behind the then National Professional Soccer League . This meant

4556-414: Was replaced by Premier Soccer League for the 1996–97 season. After a flurry of coaches and players came, went, and a third Stan Tshabalala stint in unsuccessful '96 and '97 campaigns, Sundowns signed Raphael Chukwu from Nigerian club, Shooting Stars S.C. and appointed Ted Dumitru as head coach in July 1997. Raphael's partnership with Daniel Mudau proved to be prolific in front of posts. Backed up by

4624-639: Was the first football club from Southern Africa to represent CAF in FIFA Club World Cup , following their 2016 CAF Champions League success.Sundowns is yet again scheduled to participate in another tournament in the United states in 2025. Source: Source: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. CAF Champions League The winner of

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