Thousands of fans greet Sundowns on arrival
Thousands of soccer fans erupted into cheers when the Mamelodi Sundowns team arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport this morning following their CAF Champions League win.
|||Thousands of soccer fans erupted into cheers when the Mamelodi Sundowns team arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport this morning following their CAF Champions League win at the weekend.
Police struggled to control the crowds who tried to greet the team, affectionately known as the Brazilians, as they walked into a marquee which was erected in the parking lot of the airport.
But the large contingent of officers eventually maintained order as the Pretoria side were led to the podium.
They were joined by various dignitaries including Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula and Gauteng Premier David Makhura.
Mbalula congratulated the team for their success and pledged a further R700 000 for the team to share for their win.
"These boys are warriors because they fought a though battle," he said.
"Thank you for making us proud.
This prize money is on top of the R20.9 million which the team received for winning the championship, which club's president mining magnate Patrice Motsepe has since pledged to the players.
As officials spoke, scores of fans stood around the marquee as hundreds more were situated on the bridge above to welcome back the soccer stars who were crowned African champions after they beat Zamalek in Egypt on Sunday.
Scores of fans were jovial as they were draped in the team's yellow and green regalia with some waving the South African flag.
Prior to the team's arrival, their fans began arriving at the airport from as early as 4am.
They sang and danced in celebration as others blew vuvuzelas as a brass band played.
Others took selfies as music also blasted from speakers which were placed on an impromptu stage.
Taxi drivers who drove past hooted in support which caused further cheers from the crowd.
One of them was 62-year-old Dolly Ngubeni who arrived at the airport at 5am this morning with her husband Joseph.
"Iv been a fan my entire life," she proclaimed.
" I love them with my whole heart and I want to tell them that the whole country is proud of them."
These sentiments were echoed by Robert Phago who considers himself one of the team's biggest fans.
"Sundowns is my first priority, I've invested a lot of emotion and love to the team," he told The Star.
Phago and his friends arrived at the airport at the peak of dawn as they said they wanted to ensure that they showed the team some love when they returned.
"The players did us proud and they deserve a warm welcome home," he said.
"They raised the flag high for South Africa."
The Brazilians, as the team is affectionately known as, won the league at the Borg El Arab Stadium near Alexandria as they held on to a 3-1 aggregate victory over Zamalek.
The Pretoria side became only the second South African team to win the CAF Champions League after Orlando Pirates in 1995.
They will now travel to Japan in December to take part in the FIFA World Club Cup.
karishma.dipa@inl.co.za
Independent Media