Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies’ title defence went back on track on Wednesday afternoon after the reigning champions secured a commanding 4-0 win over Central Bank of Ethiopia.

Following their shock 1-0 loss to Egyptian debutants, FC Masar on Saturday, the South Africans re-grouped to put up a strong performance against the Ethiopians who were no match for the class of Masandawana.

Sundowns’ strong signal of intent was evident in the opening half with all four of their goals coming in the first stanza courtesy of a Melinda Kgadiete brace, as well as a goal a piece by Joyce Rabale and the speedy Lelona Daweti.

The early goals rubber-stamped what was a one-sided affair in the match, with Sundowns dominating and enjoying a lion’s share of the possession, with very little threat from the Ethiopian side.

With this being their second consecutive loss following their crushing 3-0 defeat to TP Edo Queens, the loss to Sundowns spells the end of CBE’s debut in the CAF Women’s Champions League.

For the reigning champions on the other side, they receive a much-needed lifeline ahead of the crucial decider on Saturday where they will face Edo Queens to determine whether they continue with their title defence in Morocco.   

This is the second meeting between Nigerian clubs and Egyptian clubs at the finals, the only previous such meeting saw Bayelsa Queens win 3-0 against Wadi Degla in their final group game in 2022. The result saw Bayelsa Queens progress to the last four.

Teams from Nigeria have faced off against teams from North Africa three times at the finals – their record in these games reads W1 L2.

Overall this is the fourth meeting between teams from Nigeria and North Africa at the finals. In addition to Bayelsa Queens’ win over Wadi Degla, AS FAR defeated Rivers Angels 3-0 in their opening group game in 2021. AS FAR also defeated Bayelsa Queens in the 2022 Semi-finals winning 1-0.

Edo Queens FC

·      Edo Queens are Nigeria’s third participant at the finals after Rivers Angels and Bayelsa Queens.

·      Edo Queens won their opening game 3-0 against CBE they are the first team from Nigeria to win their opening game at the finals in 2021 Rivers and Angels lost 3-0 to AS FAR and in 2022 Bayelsa Queens lost 2-1 to Sundowns.

·      Edo Queens recorded the joint biggest win by a Nigerian club at the finals along with Bayelsa Queens 3-0 win over Wadi Degla at the group stages in 2022.

·      Victory for Edo Queens will see them become the first Nigerian club at the finals to win their opening two games.  

·      Should they not concede Edo Queens will be the first Nigerian club to keep successive clean-sheets in their opening two games.

·      In their opening game against CBE, Edo Queens scored their three goals with six shots on target.

·      In their opening game against CBE, the Nigerian’s managed to complete a game high 505 passes, with a passing accuracy of 78.8%.

·      Of the 641 passes they attempted in their opening game win over CBE, 348 of the passes were in the opposition half.

·      Should either of Edo Queen’s goal scorers Emem Essien, Folashade Ijamilusi or Goodness Osigwe score, they will be the first players to score more than a single goal for a Nigerian club at the finals.

·      Against CBE, the Nigerians had four players who completed at least 50 passes.

·      Miracle Usani attempted 8 crosses in the win over CBE, while Ijamilusi attempted 6 crosses.

FC Masar

·       Masar defeated defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 in their opening game, at the finals they are the first team to defeat Sundowns in a group game.

·       Masar are Egypt’s second representatives at the finals, like Wadi Degla in 2021 they won their opening game.

·       Masar’s win over Sundowns ended a five-game losing run for Egyptian clubs at the finals, Wadi Degla lost their final two games in 2021 and all three games in 2022.

·       Masar are the first Egyptian club to keep a clean-sheet at the finals, Wadi Degla had conceded in all of their previous six games at the finals.

·       Masar are the third club from the UNAF region to win their first ever game at the finals along with Wadi Degla and AS FAR in 2021.

·       Victory for Masar will see them become the first Egyptian club to win two successive games at the finals.

·       Should Masar avoid defeat they will be the first Egyptian club at the finals to go undefeated over their first two games at the finals.

·       No team from the UNAF region has ever lost their maiden game at the finals, in addition to the three teams that had won SC Casablanca drew their first game in 2023.

·       In their opening game against Sundowns, Masar managed to complete just 127 passes. The second fewest amongst all teams on Match Day one.

Sundowns and CBE both lost their opening games and will be looking to bounce back as they face each other, in their second game in Group B.

This is the first meeting between the teams.

Sundowns will be facing a team from East Africa at the finals for a fourth time, they have previously faced Kenyan side Vihiga Queens in 2021 and Tanzanian duo Simba Queens and JKT Queens in 2022 and 2023.

Sundowns’ first game at the finals in 2021 saw them face Kenyan side, Vihiga Queens in their opening group game where they won 1-0. Thereafter they defeated Simba Queens 1-0 in the 2022 Semi-finals and in 2023, they defeated JKT Queens 2-0 in the group stages.

Sundowns will now have faced East African opponents in all four of their appearances at the finals.

Overall this is the fifth meeting between teams from the COSAFA and CECAFA regions, with teams from the South having won three of the previous four clashes.

In addition to Sundowns’ three games against East African opponents, the only other meeting between teams from COSAFA and CECAFA saw Simba Queens defeat Zambia’s Green Buffaloes 2-0 in the 2022 group stages.

Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC

·      Sundowns lost their opening game against FC Masar of Egypt, going down 1-0.

·      Sundowns’ loss to Masar saw their 9-game run undefeated run in the group games at the finals come to an end (W8 D1).

·      Sundowns loss to Masar saw their run of winning 6 successive group games come to an end, it was only the second group game they had failed to win along with their final group game in 2021l, which was a 0-0 draw against AS FAR.

·      Sundowns’ loss to Masar was just their second loss at the finals along with the 2022 final.

·      Sundowns loss to Masar was just the fourth time in 16 games at the finals that they had failed to score in, along with 0-0 stalemates in 2021 against AS FAR and Malabo Kings, where they won the latter game on penalties as well as their 4-0 loss to AS FAR in the 2022 finals.

·      Sundowns’ loss to Masar meant that in the last two editions of the finals the reigning champions have lost their opening game, as 2022 reigning champions AS FAR lost their opening game in 2023.

·      Should Sundowns fail to win they will have failed to win successive games at the finals for the second time, they only once previously did not win successive games in open play, which was in 2021 where they drew their final group game against AS FAR and then defeated Malabo Kings on penalties in the Semi-finals.

·      Ethiopia is the third East African Country along with Kenya and Tanzania against whose clubs Sundowns will face.

·      Ethiopia will become the tenth country against whose clubs Sundowns would have faced at the finals along with Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Tanzania

·      Excluding the 2021 finals when all teams were making their tournament debut, across the 2022, 2023 and 2024 tournaments Sundowns have faced seven debutants. Their record in eight such games reads W7 D0 L1. They faced SC Casablanca twice in 2023.

·      Sundowns’ loss to Masar, including the 2021 finals is their first to a tournament debutant.

·      Sundowns managed two shots on target in their game against Masar, the fewest in 13 games in the tournament. The last time they had fewer attempts on target was when having zero shots on target in a 0-0 draw in their final group game against AS FAR in 2021.  

·      In their opening game loss to Masar, Sundowns completed 357 passes while their opponents only managed 127.

·      In their opening game against Masar, Lelona Daweti created six chances for Sundowns. The most after match day one by a player in a single game at the current finals.

·      Sundowns have scored seven goals combined in their three previous second group games at the finals without conceding a goal.

·      Melinda Kgadiete featured in her 14^th game at the finals for Sundowns in their opening game against Masar. She has now played at all four editions of the finals.

Central Bank of Ethiopia

·      CBE were defeated 3-0 in their opening game against Nigerian side Edo Queens.

·      CBE’s 3-0 loss to Edo Queens in their opening game was the biggest loss for a team from the CECAFA region in their first game at the finals.

·      All three of the CECAFA regions previous qualifiers have won their second group game after beginning with a loss.

·      In 2021, Kenyan side Vihiga Queens lost their opening game to Sundowns but bounced back and defeated AS FAR 2-0 in their second game. They lost their third game against Rivers Angels of Nigeria.

·      In 2022, Simba Queens lost their first game against AS FAR 1-0, but won their next two against Determine Girls and Green Buffaloes to reach the last four.

·      In 2023, JKT Queens lost their opening game against Sundowns but won their second game against hosts Athletico Abidjan.

·      One other debutant has failed to win their opening game and progressed beyond the group stages, this was SC Casablanca who drew their first game in 2023 against Athletico Abidjan and were eventual runners up.

·      In their opening game loss to Edo Queens, Tariuka Balcha goalkeeper of CBE faced six shots making three saves, the second most number of saves made by a goalkeeper on match day one.

·      In their opening game, CBE’s Tarikuwa Yukura had 63 touches which was the most of any of her teammates.

·      In their opening game CBE’s Emebet Adisu completed 42 passes, the most of any of her teammates.