Champagne corks were still flying in the visiting dressing room when USM Alger’s legendary head coach Lamine Ndiaye dropped a sensational post-match bombshell.

Fresh off embarrassing Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 in front of their own faithful at Loftus Versfeld Stadium to lift the 2026 CAF Super Cup, the Senegalese tactical mastermind delivered a quote that has sent shockwaves through African football.

Despite completely outclassing the Brazilians on their home patch, Ndiaye raised eyebrows across the press room by insisting that Sundowns remain the undisputed kings of the continent—before delivering a cold reality check.

"Sundowns is the best team in Africa, they have been so consistent and play very good football, but we came here not just to play, we play finals to win, we did that," Ndiaye declared.

The 35th CAF Super Cup final unfolded like a nightmare for Masandawana. USM Alger needed just three minutes to silence the Pretoria crowd when Zakaria Draoui pounced to open the scoring. Sundowns offered a flicker of hope in the 25th minute when Iqraam Rayners slotted home a crucial penalty to restore parity at 1-1.

However, the Algerian heavyweights refused to let the momentum shift. Right before the halftime break, Saadi Radouani headed home a rebound off the post in the 37th minute to restore USM Alger's lead.

Any lingering hopes of a second-half comeback from Manqoba Mngqithi’s men were shattered in the 55th minute when Ahmed Khaldi unleashed a curling left-footed stunner past a helpless Ronwen Williams to seal the 3-1 victory.

The defeat marks another bitter pill for Sundowns, who failed to leverage home advantage on a night meant for celebration.

For Ndiaye and USM Alger, it marks their second CAF Super Cup triumph following their 2023 victory, solidifying their reputation as lethal tournament specialists.

As Ndiaye’s squad flies back to Algiers with the hardware, the Pretoria giants are left staring at painful questions about their big-game temperament. Was Ndiaye genuinely praising Sundowns, or was he delivering the ultimate tactical taunt to Mzansi's top club?

Source: https://x.com/iDiskiTimes/status/2119775902875660542?a=ky3x2-fSvLfNE1eVc7Q&s=19