Aubrey Modiba may have just helped Mamelodi Sundowns take a giant step towards CAF Champions League glory, but the left-back admitted Saturday was a night of split attention at Loftus Versfeld, with one eye firmly on the Betway Premiership title race unfolding elsewhere.
While Sundowns were seeing off AS FAR 1-0 in their continental final first leg in Pretoria, Orlando Pirates were being held to a 0-0 draw by Durban City the day prior – a result that keeps the faintest flicker of a domestic title dream alive for Miguel Cardoso’s Sundowns side.
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Modiba confirmed the players were tracking the Pirates result in real time and that the mood shifted when the draw came through.
“Yeah no, obviously, when it was a draw, we were watching that game, when it was a draw, we still believe, we always believe, anything can happen – but we also know the quality of Orlando Pirates, how bad they want the league,” he said.
Pirates’ slip means Sundowns are not yet mathematically out of contention, though the Buccaneers still hold a commanding position at the top of the table and need only a positive result in their final match against ORBIT College to seal the championship. Modiba knows the odds are steep but is not prepared to stop believing.
“Hopefully in the last game against ORBIT they have the same result, so we’ll just hope and pray we always believe, you must always believe, so yeah, we believe,” he said.
It has been a bittersweet domestic season for Sundowns, who have been chasing Pirates for much of the second half of the campaign after surrendering top spot. Losing the league title after eight consecutive seasons of dominance would sting – but the Brazilians have given themselves every chance of softening that blow with a title in Africa’s elite club competition in touching distance now.
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