Mamelodi Sundowns secured their second CAF Champions League title, adding to their 2016 triumph, after edging AS FAR Rabat 2-1 on aggregate. They claimed a vital 1-0 win at home before holding out for a 1-1 draw in Rabat to seal the crown.
However, the season proved less fruitful on the local front, as Sundowns failed to lift any domestic cup trophy. Their long-standing league supremacy was also brought to an end when Orlando Pirates ended their eight-year dominance by claiming the domestic league title for the first time in 14 years.
Despite that setback, Kekana described Pirates’ league triumph as a positive development for South African football overall, arguing that stronger domestic competition will ultimately raise standards across the board.
“Winning the Champions League feels like getting a monkey off our backs. We’ve been carrying so much weight, wanting this thing for the longest time. I haven’t really quite grasped what it actually means, but I think we will get to understand what it means in years to come,” Kekana said, as quoted by Sowetan.
“It was a challenging season. We lost out on all the domestic cups, but we were able to redeem ourselves at the end by taking the big fish [referring to the Champions League], so despite all those challenges and disappointments, we are more than happy to have won the CAF Champions League.
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“I think it [Pirates winning the domestic league] is good for South African football and for the national team. Obviously, Pirates have been chasing us for the longest time, and they finally caught us this season, but they couldn’t catch us for too long.
“I think it’s good for South African football to have two big teams fighting against one another. It only bodes well for the national team, and one can only wish those who are going to the World Cup all the best. We as a nation need to rally behind them.”