CAF Women's Champions League: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Athletico Abidjan | Match Facts
This is the first match between Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies and Athlético Football club Abidjan.
Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa will face Athlético Football club Abidjan, a club from the CAF Women's Champions League host country for the second time. The South Africans were defeated 4-0 by AS FAR in the 2022 final.
Athlético will become the 11th different club Sundowns will face in the finals. The Ivorian club will become the fourth club in the West African Football Union (WAFU) region with Nigerian sides Rivers Angels and Bayelsa Queens, as well as Ghanaian sides Hasaacas Queens being the other three.
Mamelodi Sundowns have won three of their last matches against clubs from the region. They beat Rivers Angels 1-0 in the 2021 group stages and Hasaacas Ladies 2-0 in the same edition. In 2022, they beat Nigerian side Bayelsa Queens in the group stages by 2-1.
In four matches against the teams from the region, Sundowns have conceded just one goal and scored five.
No COSAFA team has lost against a WAFU team in the final (4 victories). There have been a total of four duels between these clubs. In addition to Sundowns, Zambia’s Green Buffaloes defeated Liberian team Determine Girls 4-0 in the 2022 group stage.
Mamelodi Sundowns
Sundowns have reached the last four of the three editions of the CAF Women's Champions League.
The South Africans won their first two matches, beating JKT Queens of Tanzania 2-0, and winning 1-0 against SC Casablanca in their second match.
In each of their three appearances in the CAF Champions League finals, Mamelodi Sundowns have managed to win their first two group matches.
Only once, in 2022 have Sundowns won all three of their group matches:
They beat TP Mazembe of the DRC 4-0 in the final group match. This follows previous 2-1 victories against Nigerians Bayelsa Queens and Egyptians Wadi Degla in 2021.
The South African team also won its first two matches against Vihiga Queens from Kenya and Rivers Angels from Nigeria.
They have won seven of their eight group matches in the finals. The only group match they failed to win was the final group match in 2021 when Sundowns drew 0-0 against AS FAR.
Mamelodi Sundowns' victory against SC Casablanca in their last match was their first victory against a Moroccan club in the finals. The team failed to win two matches against AS FAR (1 draw, 1 defeat).
Mamelodi Sundowns' match against SC Casablanca is their fourth match against a North African club in the finals.
The match against SC Casablanca is Mamelodi Sundowns' 12th in the final, the 9th in open play. No team has achieved as many victories in the finals as them.
Melinda Kgadiete, who scored Mamelodi Sundowns' only goal in their 1-0 win over SC Casablanca, is the first player to score in three different CAF Women's Champions League finals. She scored one goal in the 2021 edition and two in 2022. It was her fourth goal in the final in her 11th match in this competition.
Sundowns' clean sheet in the victory against SC Casablanca is their 10th in 12 finals matches.
Of these 10 clean sheets during the 12 matches in the final phase, Andile Dlamini managed seven including three in 2021, two in 2022 and two in the current final.
With her clean sheet in the match against SC Casablanca, Andile Dlamini overtook AS FAR goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi as the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the final tournament. Er-Rmichi played 11 matches compared to 9 matches for Dlamini.
Sundowns completed 512 passes in their match against SC Casablanca while their opponents managed only 208. Sundowns also had 162 passes in the final third of the match.
Melinda Kgadiete scored with her only shot on target of the match.
Zanele Nhlapho made 83 passes in the victory against SC Casablanca. Most passes by any player in the match.
In the victory against SC Casablanca, four Sundowns players completed 50 passes in addition to Nhlapho, Kholosa Biyana (63), Karabo Dhlamini (57) and Karabo Makhurubetshi (53). All of them brought their total passes in the match beyond fifty.
Sundowns have used 16 players in their two matches so far. Seven players Kholosa Biyana, Karabo Dhlamini, Andile Dlamini, Karabo Makhurubetshi, Chuene Morifi and Zanele Nhlapho have played all 180 minutes so far for the 2021 champions.
Atletico Football Club of Abidjan
The Ivory Coast representative failed to win their second match. They suffered a 2-1 loss to Tanzanian side JKT Queens, despite taking the lead in the 33rd minute through Sandrine Niamien.
They are the first team in finals history to take the lead on two consecutive matches and fail to win both. They drew 1-1 in their opening match against SC Casablanca after taking the lead and lost 2-1 to JKT Queens after taking the lead.
Dao Lassina girls are also the first host club to fail to win one of their first two matches. In 2021 Wadi Degla recorded a win then lost their next two matches, while in 2022 AS FAR won all three of their group matches.
In the event of failure, Athletico will be the first host club to be eliminated from the competition without having recorded a victory.
If they are eliminated, they will be the second host club eliminated in the group stage, with Wadi Degla the 2021 edition.
A victory for Athlético could see them qualify for the last four, if they do they will be the second host team after 2022 winners AS FAR to reach the last four.
Athlético's Espérance Agbo created five chances, the most after the second day of the tournament.
Athlético goalkeeper Cynthia Djohoré made 7 saves on day three, the second most saves made by a goalkeeper in the tournament.
In the defeat against JKT Queens, Espérance Agbo had 6 shots on goal, including four on target. She also attempted 10 crosses, the most in the match.
Agbo had eight shots on target, four in each of her team's first two games, in total Athlético had 14 shots on target, of which 57% were attempted. She scored a goal with her 8 shots on target.