FAR Rabat may have left Pretoria with a defeat, but the Moroccan giants remain convinced the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final is still wide open after coach Alexandre Santos and defender Yunis Abdelhamid expressed confidence in overturning the deficit at home.
A stunning free-kick from Aubrey Modiba earned Mamelodi Sundowns a hard-fought 1-0 victory over FAR Rabat in Sunday’s first leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Despite the loss, the visitors left South Africa believing the contest is far from decided ahead of the return leg in Rabat next weekend.
While Sundowns celebrated a narrow advantage, the mood inside the FAR Rabat camp reflected determination rather than disappointment as the Moroccan side continue their pursuit of Africa’s biggest club prize.
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“It was tough, very tough and the first half was more than we wanted to close the space, Sundowns is very strong, we did very well,” Santos said after the match.
The Portuguese tactician admitted Sundowns controlled possession for long spells and remained dangerous through quick transitions and set-pieces. Still, he felt his side carried out much of their tactical approach successfully.
“We get the ball a lot of times and we made our counter-attacks and transitions very well, we could make better and maybe if we made better the second half was easy,” he explained.
The game’s defining moment arrived in the 37th minute when Modiba unleashed a powerful free-kick that beat the goalkeeper despite getting a hand to the ball.
Santos insisted the strike owed more to the quality of the effort than to any lapse from his defenders.
“But when we conceded one goal as we conceded was not our fault but it’s the great ability of the player of Sundowns,” he said.
The FAR Rabat coach also acknowledged the attacking threat posed by the South African champions whenever opponents allow them room to attack.
“It’s very difficult and Sundowns when get space it’s one of the amazing teams of this continent,” Santos added.
Despite enduring sustained pressure, the Moroccan side succeeded in limiting the damage to a single goal — a result Santos believes keeps the final finely balanced heading into the decisive second leg at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
“We keep our result to 1-0, we try, we try to but in the end the most important thing is we go to our home to go to confident to get the other result and to make the goal to make title and fight until the end that’s our intention,” he said.
Veteran centre-back Abdelhamid shared his coach’s optimism, although he admitted the result fell short of the team’s expectations.
“This was not the result we were expecting, we were hoping for better,” Abdelhamid said.
The experienced defender pointed to missed opportunities before halftime as a major factor in the outcome.
“I think we missed our chance in the first half, as we had some opportunities to score through simple crosses, but they were not in our favor,” he explained.
Abdelhamid also argued that Sundowns were not overwhelmingly dangerous from open play despite enjoying more possession.
“After that, the match was difficult, it’s a final and it’s normal for it to be so,” he said. “I think that despite having possession, they weren’t very dangerous, except for set pieces, and unfortunately they also scored from a set piece.”
FAR Rabat now return home needing a comeback against a Sundowns side chasing a second African title following their 2016 triumph.
The Moroccan club, however, have already demonstrated resilience during their journey to the final after eliminating reigning champions Pyramids FC and fellow North African rivals RS Berkane on their route to the title showdown.
Abdelhamid believes the team can rise again in front of their supporters.
“Now there is one last match, the second leg at our home ground,” he said. “We will do everything we can to put pressure on them and turn the result around.”
