The China Mail - Modiba thunderbolt gives Sundowns victory in African final first leg

The full-back struck his first goal of the African campaign on 37 minutes in Pretoria to earn the hosts a slender lead ahead of the return match in Rabat next Sunday.

Modiba used his left foot to unleash an angled shot that goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti got his right hand to, but could not prevent entering the corner of the net.

Sundowns should have won by a wider margin as they missed three scoring opportunities in a purple patch around the hour mark at a packed 50,000-seat Loftus Versfeld stadium.

Colombian Brayan Leon, scorer of 16 goals in all competitions since joining Sundowns four months ago, was the culprit twice and Kutlwano Letlhaku once.

Leon fired a snap shot over from inside the box. Five minutes later his low drive finished well off target with only Tagnaouti to beat.

The Moroccan goalkeeper foiled Letlhaku using his legs and FAR were lucky to remain only one goal behind midway through the second half.

Luck favoured FAR five minutes from time when the post prevented a Teboho Mokoena free-kick slipping into the corner of the net with Tagnaouti beaten.

- VAR malfunction -

The start of the second half had been delayed by 25 minutes because VAR was not working. Play eventually resumed without the system, which was restored midway through the half.

"It was a fantastic match between quality teams. We had to be careful as FAR are good at counterattacking," said Sundowns' Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso.

"We will now face a difficult environment in the second leg. We must close our ears, ignore the pre-match noise and concentrate on winning the competition."

Cardoso is desperate to succeed after losing the last two Champions League finals. He failed with Tunisian club Esperance in 2024 and Sundowns last season.

Alexandre Santos, the Portuguese coach of FAR, promised his team would be more threatening in Rabat after failing to get a single goal attempt on target in Pretoria.

"Sundowns are a very formidable side with technically amazing players. They are also vastly experienced Champion League campaigners.

"But I expect we will win more possession next weekend and create scoring chances. I remain confident that FAR will be African champions."

Both clubs to are seeking to become African champions a second time. FAR triumphed in 1985 and Sundowns in 2016. The South Africans have also been runners-up twice.

At stake is a record $6 million first prize with the runners-up pocketing $4 million. The champions will also play Confederation Cup winners USMA of Algeria for the CAF Super Cup.

R.Lin--ThChM