At last, a PSL photo finish

Last season, it was a 12-point gap. In 2023, the difference between Mamelodi Sundowns in first place in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and runners-up Orlando Pirates was 16 points.

In 2024, it was a seismic 23-point schism between first and second.

For the past five seasons, Patrice Motsepe’s club has hoovered up the domestic opposition with contemptuous frivolity while romping to the championship. Sundowns had been much more focused on trying to win the African Champions League, which is where they direct their best energy, yet even with the distraction, they utterly overwhelmed the domestic opposition in a devastating display of their superiority and a damning indictment of the chasing pack.

It was last in 2020, not long after the pandemic started, when supporters were banished indoors to their sofas, that there was anything approaching an exciting conclusion to the league race.

But Sundowns may finally be meeting their match, and the upturn for the local soccer industry has been positively palpable. There are two months left to complete the season (after which Bafana Bafana go to the World Cup), and when the league programme returns to action on Tuesday April 7, the standings will show Pirates leading by a single point but having played one match more. Pirates have eight fixtures to complete, Sundowns nine, and the course is clear for a dramatic tussle to the finish.

The result of all this is a marked increase in the size of crowds, even if only anecdotally; the PSL has never released attendance figures. Orlando Stadium in Soweto has been consistently full for Pirates home games, and at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, the Sundowns support base is also considerable.

That Kaizer Chiefs, after a decade in the doldrums and still a long way from their glory days, are battling for third place is a bonus for an industry that needs the big three to be competitive to stimulate interest. It has also been a good season for another sleeping giant, AmaZulu.

Sundowns’ hegemony might have been record-setting, but it did nothing for the wider appeal of the league, and there is great relief that a photo finish to the title race is on the cards. Pirates had been runners-up in the three previous seasons, but so far back in second place that the silver medal slot had little shine.

For the past five seasons, Patrice Motsepe’s club has hoovered up the domestic opposition with contemptuous frivolity

Their elevation into a team capable of challenging Sundowns is a direct result of astute purchases in the pre-season. Pirates spent upwards of R50m on players to boost their squad, buying 15 in total before the campaign kicked off in August. It is, without doubt, the best spending spree witnessed in the domestic game in terms of the impact that the new hires have made. Among the players were Oswin Appollis, Sipho Mbule, Tshepang Moremi, Sihle Nduli, Kamogelo Sebelebele and Lebone Seema, who added the missing element to Pirates’ ability to deliver consistent winning performances and brought much-needed depth to the squad.

Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, a former Morocco international centre-back who played in the Premier League in England, seemed at first a lightweight option when appointed in June but has done well to put his side in contention. He had nothing to do with the signings, however. The real credit lies with the Pirates management, whose chair, Irvin Khoza, hustled and cajoled his way through a dramatic transfer window that yielded a stunning array of talent, all of whom had long been quietly earmarked by the club.

Sundowns used to have the monopoly on buying the best, with Motsepe’s chequebook bringing in a bright array of stars over the past two decades of his ownership. While Pirates were gaining, Sundowns lost their Brazilian talisman, Lucas Ribeiro, chosen last season as the best player in the PSL. He broke his contract to join a Qatari outfit, which has since loaned him to Spain, in an acrimonious split that took advantage of tenuous new rules around player contracts and transfers that world football is having to navigate in the wake of landmark decisions by the European Court of Justice. Ribeiro was going to be the pivot around which Sundowns would turn this season, not only in their quest for a ninth successive PSL title but also to finally conquer Africa. His influence last season was marked, and the drama around his departure came as a major setback.

Despite having had eight months to find a solution, Sundowns still suffer from his absence, missing the cutting edge that the Brazilian offered in his two-season spell with the club. Portuguese midfielder Nuno Santos, once at Benfica and with an impressive pedigree, was signed in a bid to replace Ribeiro, and while he has an extensive passing range, he tends to prance around the midfield, whereas Ribeiro was one to have the ball at his feet and, with his stocky frame and silky skills, attempt to both bamboozle and steamroller opposing defenders.

There were also attempts by other players to move on from Sundowns before the start of the season, with star right-back Khuliso Mudau staging a one-man strike to try to force a lucrative transfer to North Africa. He blinked first, however, and had to sheepishly return to Sundowns, with all matters seemingly now sorted. But mutiny at the top-paying club in the country was a shock development and reflective of a generally unhappy camp, still motivated to perform and achieve but devoid of the obvious joy of the previous campaign.

It has to do with the leadership. Coach Miguel Cardoso has the same suffocating intensity as predecessors Pitso Mosimane and Rulani Mokwena and is equally thin-skinned, constantly needing to justify results, decisions and outcomes. But as much as he is unloved by his own fans, he is delivering, with Sundowns through to the African Champions League semifinals next weekend and also still well placed to retain their South African league title.

Pirates do not have any other cup distractions, which must be seen as a big positive

Their only concern will be that the Champions League commitments mean fixtures might pile up on them closer to the end of the campaign. Cardoso often complains about the lack of opportunities for his players to rest, but that is why Sundowns have spent so handsomely over the years on an expansive squad so that they can best compete on several fronts.

They did beat Pirates in Soweto in February just to remind those beginning to write them off that they were very much still around. Sundowns’ last nine league fixtures are five at home and four away, and having won their last eight league games in a row, if they keep up the sequence, they will be crowned champions.

Pirates’ eight remaining league games are divided into four at home and four away, and include another derby against Kaizer Chiefs at Soccer City on April 25 and a tricky trip to the Western Cape one week later to take on Stellenbosch.

Pirates do not have any other cup distractions, which must be seen as a big positive.

The prestige of being league champions is the ultimate prize, though the financial rewards are not to be scoffed at either. There is a R20m first prize, plus qualification for the African Champions League, where the first prize is now $6m. The PSL runner-up also qualifies to compete in next season’s Champions League.

Participation in continental club competition used to be both an arduous and ruinous adventure, but now, while still proving mentally and physically taxing with all the uncomfortable travel, it is most financially rewarding.

Added to that are the riches of the Club World Cup, which Fifa is determined to make as profitable as the World Cup for national teams.

The next Club World Cup is in 2029, and participating teams are guaranteed $10m just for showing up. To qualify, Sundowns and Pirates would need to win one of the next three editions of the Champions League, an ambition they have certainly set themselves, and one that is well within their capability.