A thunderous Teboho Mokoena strike in first-half stoppage time sealed Mamelodi Sundowns' second CAF Champions League title as they drew 1-1 away at AS FAR at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, clinching a 2-1 aggregate final win.

A stunning Aubrey Modiba free kick had sealed Sundowns' home leg last Sunday at Loftus Versfeld. However, the 2016 champions endured a difficult week in the buildup to their visit to Morocco.

Their chartered flight was reported to have been delayed significantly due to the required landing permit not being given to them on time. Then, the day before the second leg of their Champions League final, they relinquished their South African Premiership crown as Orlando Pirates wrapped up the title with a 2-0 win over Orbit College.

Sundowns had won the league eight seasons in a row prior to this, but the CAF Champions League had eluded them for a decade filled with near misses in pursuit of a second star on top of their crest. Miguel Cardoso, who was appointed head coach in December of 2024, headed into Sunday's final knowing his legacy at the club may depend on Sunday's result.

The first half went horrifically for the most part. AS FAR took the lead in the 40th minute from the penalty spot through Mohamed Rabie Hrimat after Divine Lunga's heavy touch saw the Sundowns left-back dispossessed by Reda Slim inside the box before he brought the winger down.

It was not Lunga's first careless challenge, or the first moment in which Sundowns appeared disjointed in the face of a hostile crowd and off the back of a grueling season.

Up stepped Teboho Mokoena in the seventh minute of stoppage time. The midfield stalwart initiated an attack with a long ball for Brayan León before arriving in the box to meet a Tashreeq Matthews flick-on from the Colombian striker's cross. The Bafana Bafana talisman smashed the ball past Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti and into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

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It was a particularly significant strike given that away goals still count in the CAF Champions League knockout rounds, meaning that AS FAR needed to score twice to regain control of the tie.

Sundowns did not shake off their nerves immediately in the second half. The decisive moment came with 15 minutes left of regulation time when Ronwen Williams dove to his left to make a superb save off a Hrimat penalty, which he had given away carelessly in the first place with a foul on Youssef El Fahli while trying to regather a shot from Ahmed Hammoudan which he had initially spilled.

The Bafana Bafana captain and Sundowns on-field captain (with club captain Themba Zwane on the bench) flipped momentum around with his diving save in the face of adversity and lasers pointed at him, and Sundowns began carving the AS FAR defence apart with increasing regularity thereafter.

Lebo Mothiba had a late goal disallowed due to a marginal offside call after being slipped in by Arthur Sales, with two substitutes brought on by Cardoso combining.

The Sundowns boss still had the last laugh over compatriot and friend Alexandre Santos. In Cardoso's third successive CAF Champions League final (following one with Espérance against Al Ahly and then another with Sundowns against Pyramids FC), the Portuguese mentor finally won his first continental championship as a head coach.

There have been far more polished performances over the years by the team known as "the Brazilians" and "Bafana ba Style" (the Style Boys). However, Sunday's win over AS FAR showed grit which mirrored the Portuguese mentor's own defiance in the face of immense pressure at various points this season.

Sundowns became the first South African club ever to lift a second Champions League title. The only other African champions from their country were Orlando Pirates in 1995. No South African team has ever won the Champions League final and hoisted the Premiership in the same season.

For this Sundowns team, there may still be lingering questions to answer after a topsy-turvy season. However, if there were any doubts over the mettle of the Motsepe family's club after they were dethroned at the top of their league -- or how competitive they would be in the aftermath -- those have all but been laid to rest.