After a 2-2 draw with Mamelodi Sundowns in Pretoria, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will defend their CAF champions league title. They advanced to the final on the basis of away goals.
Themba Zwane broke the deadlock in the second half when he capitalized on an error in defense to give the host the lead, however, Ayoub El Amloud leveled the scores in the 72nd minute when he headed in the ball in the net.
With seven minutes from regulation time, Peter Shalulile thought he had clinched the winner for the hosts but that was not to be, as the joy was cut short when Mothobi Mvala, scored in his own net in the 83rd minute to level the tie 2-2.
The Moroccans were able to withstand the pressure in the final minutes of the match as the result was enough to see them through to the final to face Egyptian side, Al Ahly, in a repeat of last year’s final.
And Wydad Casablanca coach, Sven Vandenbroeck, said that experience and maturity helped his side to progress to the final.
“First half we wanted to save energy with a low block and come out surprise them in the beginning of the second half. And I think my players did very well and I think in the end it’s experience that makes the difference.” he said in an interview with Supersport after the game.
Vandenbroeck also admitted that Mamelodi Sundowns were the better side between the two sides, but experience was what countered at the end of the match.
“We depended on experience,”-Vandenbroeck.
“Maybe, Sundowns in the game over the two legs they were better than us, but our experience and especially mentality made the difference in the end. They went ahead and we come back, it’s two sides. That’s the mental part of Football. We also trained on the last 10 minutes if we had to score. So, you could see what the boys were doing.” he added.
Meanwhile, Vandenbroeck has praised Mamelodi Sundowns, Wydad, and Al Ahly as the three teams that made the CAF champions League interesting.
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“I’m very happy we succeeded. Unlikely for the fans here, they came out in numbers. But I think these years the three teams, Sundowns, Wydad and Al Ahly made the champions League more interesting.” he said
Wydad will have the chance to defend their Title against Al Ahly in the two legged final with the matches set for June 4th and 11th.
