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Africa: CAF Women’s Champions League – Tshabalala Looking Beyond CAF Women’s Champions League Title Defense

todayOctober 11, 2024 2

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Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC head coach, Jerry Tshabalala says defending their CAF Women’s Champions League title is important for the club. However, equally crucial to the club is the continuous development of young female football talent.

Tshabalala will be aiming at securing a third CAF Women’s Champions League gold medal for the South African side who have won two out of the three editions.

Speaking to CAFOnline ahead of the much-anticipated competition, Tshabalala touches on the evolution of the women’s game in Africa, their ambitions and goals for the tournament and also shares some words of advice to tournament debutants, University of Western Cape who will also represent South Africa at the finals.

Coach all eyes on Mamelodi Sundowns once again as the defending champions, what do you make of the pressure of going into the competition as defending champions?

⁠It is always a challenge going into a tournament as the defending champions because everyone is watching and expecting the best from us. The pressure is definitely there, but as a team, we are usually used to dealing with high expectations. We channel that pressure into focus and preparation, ensuring we perform to our best ability, while keeping the mindset that we need to earn our success again.

The standard of the competition has grown significantly over the years, what have been some of the observations you have made in the last two editions?

The level of competition has improved drastically in the last two editions. Teams have become more tactically aware, and there’s been a huge progress. More clubs are investing in their women’s teams, we saw teams like Simba Queens, TP Mazembe which has raised the overall quality of play. The tournament is more competitive than ever, and this demands that we keep evolving.

⁠Physicality for COSAFA nations have always been of concern in both the men and women’s football, is this something you feel is of concern ahead of the tournament?

Physicality is something we’ve been aware of and working on. It’s true that COSAFA nations have struggled in that aspect in the past, but we’ve made significant strides in conditioning our players hence we brought in a top conditioning coach in Hannah Dwyer for the demands of the tournament. It’s not just about physical strength but also endurance, recovery, and fitness, which are all key areas we focus on. In this way, we ensure that our players can handle any physical challenge that comes their way.