World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

Thecelebrationswereecstatic.Dancing,
singing,flag-waving,badge-kissing,
playersandstaff jumpingintoeach
other’sarmsandgivingthanksto
God.ThroughfloodsoftearsAndisiwe
Mgcoyisaid:“I’mjustso emotional
becausethisistheonewewanted.”
TheMamelodiSundownLadies
strikerwas talkingabouttheinaugural
AfricanChampionsLeague, whichthe
South Africanteamhadjustwonin
Cairo,defeatingHasaacasLadies,
ofGhana, 2-0.
Aroundtheworld,just as in themen’s
game,federationsarefollowingUEFAin
creatinga women’s ChampionsLeague
(withtheexceptionofSouthAmerica,
wheretheCopaLibertadoresFeminina
beganin 20 09).
Theaimistoprovidea platformand
inspirationforwomen’s teams,leadingto
risingstandards,interestandinvestment.
TheAfrican competitionbeganwith
33 clubsdrawnfromthe 55 federation
members,dividedintosixregionally-
basedqualifyingzones.TheWestAfrican
Zoneproduced twoqualifiersbydintof
theWomen’sAFCONholders,Nigeria,
beingfromthe region– appropriately
thebeneficiarywasNigeria’sRivers
Angels.
Thesevenqualifierswerejoined
byEgyptianchampionsWadiDegla,
whohostedthefinaltournament.

Theywerein GroupA alongside
Hasaacas,ASMande (Mali)andMalabo
Kings(EquatorialGuinea).GroupB
featuredSundowns, RiverAngels, AS
FAR(Morocco)andVihiga Queens
(Kenya).
Sundownsreachedthefinalbeating
MalaboKingson penalties aftera
goallessdraw.Hasaacasdefeated
ASFAR 2-1, with thewinnercoming
fromEvelynBadu,thetournament’s
topscorer andstarplayer.
Inthe finalMgcoyisetupChuene
Morifi in the 33 rdminute,thenscored
herselfinthe 65th.Victory completed

a ten-matchcampaign duringwhichthey

hadscored 24 goalsandconceded one,

winningeightgamesandlosingnone.

Theycouldjustifiablyclaimtobe

Africa’sbest,emulatingthesuccess

ofSundownsmen’s teamin 2016.

WhileAfricaisup-and-runningthe

Asianequivalentisplannedtolaunchin

2023. In themeantime a small seriesof

regionalpilottournaments arebeing

staged.

Thefirst,in 2019 , featuredclubsfrom

theleadingpowersinAsianwomen’s

football:South Korea,Japan,Chinaand

Australia,allWorldCup regulars.Hosted

inthe South KoreancityofYonginit

waswonbyTokyo’sVerdyBeleza.

Thepandemicmeanttherewasno

competitionin 2020 andalsostymied

a proposedEastZoneeventin 2021

betweenteamsfromThailand,Vietnam,

MyanmarandTaiwan– no hostcould

befound.

Jordan,however, were happytostage

theWestZonetournamentfeaturing

Amman,Bunyodkor, GokulamKeralaand

ShahrdariSirjan,respectivelychampions

ofJordan,Uzbekistan,India andIran.

Thisquartetplayed a six-matchround

robinfromwhichthe hostsemerged

triumphantdespite losingtobottom-

clubBunyodkor. This underlinedthe

evennessofa competitioninwhichfive

matcheswerewonby a singlegoal.

TheAsianFootballConfederation

hopestostage anothertournament

in 2022 and is to bring in theAFC

Women’sClubLicensingSystemwith

minimumcriteriatocompetein the

women’s Asian Champions League

proposedfor 2 023.

FormerChineseinternational BaiLili,

AFC’sheadofwomen’sfootball, said the

competitionandlicensingrequirements

wouldtogetherbea significantboostto

thewomen’s gameintheregionleading

tohigherstandardsof organisationand

moreopportunityforplayers.

Thebigquestioniswhethertocopy

themen’sformat,whichhasseparate

competitionsfortheEastandWest

Zones,anda finalbetweenthetwo

winners.

Theproblem,asBainotes,is

“developmentlevelsareuneven.Teams

inEastAsiaare relativelystrong,whilein

otherregionstheystill have theirwork

cutout.Thebiggest jobforus is to

bridgethe gap.”

Inpracticethisislikelytomean

whoever wins theEastZonewould

easilywin thefinal,butplayingfixtures

acrossthevast,sprawlingAFC region

couldbeprohibitivelyexpensive.

CONCACAFplanstolaunch

a continentalclubtournamentin

2023 or 20 24.Thoughthisislikely

tobedominatedintheinitialyearsby

Americanclubs,rapidprogressisbeing

madeinMexicoanditishopedthat

theexistenceof sucha competition

willspurdevelopmentinOlympic

championsCanadaaswellasnations

suchasCosta RicaandJamaica.

Furthersouththe 13th editionofthe

CopaLibertadoresFemeninatookplace

inParaguayinNovember 20 21,withthe

exceptionofthe final,whichwasstaged

inUruguay.

GlennMoore

Women’sFootball

Captain...

ZaneleNhlapho

“I’mjustsoemotionalbecausethisistheonewewanted”

AndisiweMgcoyi,MamelodiSundownsLadies

MamelodiSundownsofSouthAfricawinthe

inauguralCAFWomen’sChampionsLeague

Africa’s first female

club champions