Wiliete were keyed up to have a go at the Brazilians in Lubango, but Downs out to flex muscle at home

Wiliete SC gave Mamelodi Sundowns a tougher outing than they might have anticipated at the beginning of the defence of their Caf Champions League title in Lubango, 140km into the southern Angolan interior on Sunday.

Downs had to settle for a 0-0 draw in Sunday’s first leg of their second preliminary round tie, the stage before the group phase. Wiliete, a team that has emerged in top-flight football in the oil-rich country in the last eight years, was eager to give a strong display at Estádio Nacional Tundavala.

Downs attempted to flex their muscle in the first half but could not capitalise on some decent chances. That spurred Wiliete to a more confident approach from the break, playing long balls and direct passes, often via the cultured passing boot of veteran midfielder Karanga, to hard-running forwards Gilberto, Mabululu and Julinho.

The South African club attempted to spread the ball in their characteristic style and Downs coach Miguel Cardoso admitted that task was made difficult by their opponents’ direct approach.

He conceded it was not the best performance from the defending champions, but pointed out Wiliete are under-rated and Sundowns also had to adapt to the game situation. The coach expressed no concerns his team will battle to flex their player power and technical and tactical superiority in Friday’s second leg at Loftus Versfeld (8pm).

Wiliete are a lesser-known Angolan club. Cardoso said: “It is really important we understand the level of the opponent we are speaking about.”

Angolan businessman and sports executive Wilson Fernando Faria, owner of microfinance institution Wiliete Crédito and some private education academies, has lifted Wiliete to competitive heights since their entry into the Girabola. They have finished sixth, fourth, and second place twice in the last four seasons and are unbeaten in this campaign, leading the league by two points early on from powerhouse Petro de Luanda.

“It’s a team at the level of Petro de Luanda,” Cardoso said after Sunday’s draw. “And we know Angolan football [clubs] are difficult to play away. We knew we had to be committed and strong in intention for the match.

“Of course we wanted to score goals and wanted to have a better position regarding the second match. But I think the team was clever enough to understand that in the moments where we could not play the way we wanted to ― difficult against a team that just wanted to play long balls behind our defence ― that it was important to adapt to that style of game.

“We could have done better, we could have had more control and aggression in the box, mostly in the second half. But it was difficult in the context of the match.”

Cardoso mentioned “a bit of fatigue in the players”. With a growing list of walking, and not walking, wounded, he will welcome a rare week where, even with the travel home from Angola, Downs do not have a midweek game to contend with.

A punishing schedule in 2026/27 is taking its toll, but that also has opened up opportunities for Downs’ array of young talent in their squad to stake a claim for taking up the mantle from the stalwarts who have brought trophy glory to the club and helped revive Bafana Bafana.

Even if Sundowns could not get the away goal that would have left them in a comfortable position in the tie, Cardoso was happy they did the next best thing keeping a clean sheet in the face of a Wiliete attack that was buzzing in Angola.

“The team handled the game the way it had to be in terms of defensive actions. This team [Wiliete] has quality players in the front, it can be aggressive at any moment.

“They stretch wide a lot and they don’t wait long to play the ball to the front. First touch the ball is played long. It’s quite difficult to keep compact because when we go up we take the [long] ball in the back, if we stay with players [back, keeping possession] then we don’t have numbers in attack.”

Sundowns are playing across a staggering seven fronts in 2026/27. Domestically they are out to recapture the Betway Premiership title they won eight times in succession before being dethroned by Orlando Pirates last campaign, have won the MTN8, kick off their Carling Knockout against Marumo Gallants two weekends from now and contest the Nedbank Cup at the end of the season.

Internationally they lifted the African-Asian-Pacific Cup beating Al-Ahli Saudi last month, a game that formed part of Fifa’s Intercontinenal Cup, contest the Caf Super Cup next month and want to mount a rare Champions League defence.

The first start of a campaign after being champions will always bring stress to represent the club in the best way.

—  Miguel Cardoso

Already the injuries are piling up for a club that had eight players on duty with Bafana at the World Cup in the off-season.

Longer-term concerns, right-back Khuliso Mudau and centrebacks Grant Kekana and Keanu Cupido, have been joined more recently by left-back Aubrey Modiba, while Bafana captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams pulled up with a knock in training last week and missed the clash in Angola.

In that game, Teboho Mokoena, just back from the injury he (as Mudau and Mothiba did) picked up on international duty for Bafana weeks ago, had to go off injured again in the 40th minute. Cardoso said Downs, of course, miss the “maturity of a Ronwen Williams, maturity of a Teboho Mokoena”.

“This team also has several young players. The first start of a campaign after being champions will always bring stress to represent the club in the best way. We felt here and there, there was a bit of stress. We were a bit not afraid of conceding, but [of] dealing with those counterattacks.

“With Teboho it’s a bit of a touch on that ligament that was hurt with the national team. At the moment we don’t know the extent; he had to leave the field, but let’s hope it’s not a big thing and he can recover for the next match.

“And Ronwen should not be a big thing. He had a small contact in a training session, some pain and it was important to keep him safe from something worse.”

Sundowns’ squad in previous seasons, and especially for this punishing campaign, has been built to absorb losses. Right-back Thabang Matuludi, young centrebacks Khulumani Ndamane and Malibongwe Khoza and left-back Fawaaz Basadien impressed on Sunday, as did Ricardo Goss in goal. Downs will feel they have Wiliete’s number at Loftus, whoever ends up being available.

Further into their tough campaign trails this season, young players will be happy to grab the chances that come their way and show themselves the successors to the big names who have brought the Yellow Nation so much trophy joy.