Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies coach Jerry Tshabalala is bypassing the idea that his side is on a mission to emulate the men’s team of dominating South African football, despite winning the league three times in a row.
Tshabalala said his side was only focused on the vision by previous club president.
“If you recall, a long time ago when the previous president of the club Patrice Motsepe bought Mamelodi Sundowns, he said his vision was to dominate African football,” Tshabalala told Sunday World.
“So, we [Mamelodi Sundowns] all know that there is that mission for us to do our best to dominate African football. We are not in competition with our male side but we are just doing what is best for us and what we can do for the club Mamelodi Sundowns as a whole.
“It might look like we are in competition, but we are just pushing one another to the limit, and this will bear fruit for the club,” the coach said.
Both the female and male sides have been dominating South African football in their respective leagues for the past decade, with the ladies winning a total of seven titles, while the men’s team have won 14 trophies in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Banyana Ba Style as the club is fondly known, were named the 2022 Best Women’s Team in Africa by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics for the second consecutive year on Thursday, and Tshabalala expressed his excitement of retaining their number one spot.
“It’s exciting to be named the best women’s team in Africa,” said Tshabalala. “But rankings are rankings, they [rankings] can change at any given time, we don’t have to let that fool us, we just have to keep on working hard and show that management has been supporting us all the way.
“They [management] are there to help us to be the best and I think it is high time that we try to go outside of the African borders and test ourselves against the European, Asian and South American teams.”
The reigning champions begin their Hollywoodbets Super League title defence against a stubborn Richmond United side at Lucas Moripe Stadium this afternoon.
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