Mamelodi Sundowns' Aubrey Modiba, scores a free kick against AS FAR during the CAF Champions League Final First Leg at the Loftus Versfeld stadium.
Image: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers
Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League final first-leg hero, Aubrey Modiba, says his stunning goal has helped ease the pain of last year’s final defeat.
Modiba sent a sold-out Loftus Versfeld into a state of frenzy on Sunday when the Bafana Bafana left-back unleashed a rasping free-kick into the AS FAR net.
It was the only goal of the encounter and allowed Sundowns to take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg in Morocco next week.
“It brought back all the emotions from last season when we lost in the final,” said Modiba, who broke into an animated celebration after his goal.
“For me, it was about saying we finally scored before half-time, and obviously helping my team to a 1-0 advantage.
“I was relieved, and I'm happy to enjoy these big moments because, as a player, you want to participate in these big matches and do well for your team. Hopefully, I can score in many more finals to come in the future.”
The free-kick was no fluke. Modiba revealed that he spends many hours on the training pitch perfecting these dead-ball situations alongside Teboho Mokoena, who almost doubled Sundowns’ lead with an equally excellent set-piece that unfortunately struck the AS FAR upright.
“We practise a lot, Tebza [Mokoena] and I,” Modiba said. “So, I'm glad it paid off.”
Modiba is a doubtful starter for next Sunday’s return leg in Rabat after pulling up with a hamstring injury, which forced him to be replaced by Divine Lunga. However, he remains confident Sundowns can get the job done in North Africa, unlike last season when they fell short against Egyptian outfit Pyramids.
“It's better than last season. We always want to do better than the season before. This time around, we have an advantage. Hopefully, going into that game, we can use that to our advantage. We also need to make sure we keep a clean sheet at the back; it's very important,” he said.
“We want to make the fans happy because they want it so badly, just as much as we do. We can't celebrate yet because we still have another game in Morocco, which is going to be difficult. We know the fans are going to cheer for them; we saw how they filled up the stadiums.
“They're going to have a different energy going into that game. Hopefully, the dreams we've had ever since we joined the team can finally come true.”