Kenyan international and Mamelodi Sundowns defender Brian Mandela was named in the CAF Champions League matchday two Team of The Week following his performance in their match against Sudan’s Al Merreikh over the weekend.Mandela helped the South African club to keep their second clean sheet in as many matches in the Group stage of the competition in Cairo and rightfully earned his place in the best 11.Meet the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL matchday 2 #TeamOfTheWeek! 🌟🇦🇴 2x GD S. Esperanca🇦🇴 2x @petro_de_luanda🇪🇬 1x @AlAhly🇿🇦 1x @AmaZuluFootball🇸🇩 1x @ElMerreikhClub🇹🇳 1x @ESTunis1919🇧🇼 1x Jwaneng Galaxy FC🇿🇦 1x @Masandawana🇲🇦 1x @RCAofficielBest XI! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Dk2myjk9oF— TotalEnergies CAFCL – TotalEnergies CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) February 21, 2022 Sagrada Esperanca’s Leonardo Mutunda was named in between the sticks following his performance against Zamalek, with Mandela partnering with Al Ahly’s Mohamed Adbelmonem in central defence as Esperance Tunis’ Zied Machmoum and Sagrada Esperanca’s Joyce Lomalisa occupied the right back and left back positions respectively.Raja Club Athletic’s Mohamed Zrida and Al-Merrikh’s Mohamed Mahamoud partner in the middle of the park, with Galaxy’s Thabang Sesinyi, Atletico Petroleos de Luanda’s Tiago Azulao, and Amazulu’s Luvuyo Memela playing ahead of the two as Atletico Petroleos de Luanda’s striker Adriano ‘Yano’ Belmiro leads the attack.The boys are back in action this weekend in the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL as we take on the Red Devils! 👆 ⚽ Al-Ahly vs Mamelodi Sundowns 📆 26 February ⏰ 21H00 🏟 Cairo International Stadium 🏆 CAF Champions League 📺 *To be confirmed📲 #Sundowns #TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/Sr0wdsvMwF— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) February 23, 2022 The former Tusker FC defender attracted praises from his coach Rulani Mokwena after his goal-line clearance saw Sundowns avoid what would have been an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Sudanese side, as well as his general performance in the match.“I suppose it was a game of 2 halves, the first half we played exceptionally well, extremely dominant and created a lot of chances and had six big chances. [The opposition] created opportunities from our carelessness from the ball, and they caught us on the counter-attack, the one that Brian Onyango cleared off the line was a big chance but it came from our situation in having a set-piece and turning over the ball,” said Rulani.
