Modiba: Sundowns determined to reclaim Betway Premiership title

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Aubrey Modiba says the club are determined to win back the Betway Premiership title after Orlando Pirates ended their run of eight successive league championships last season.

Sundowns had been dominant in the domestic competition and were pursuing a record-extending ninth consecutive crown. However, Orlando Pirates claimed their first league title since 2012, bringing Sundowns’ long-standing reign to an end.

Although Sundowns secured the CAF Champions League, regarded as the biggest prize in African club football, Modiba admitted that surrendering the league trophy was particularly difficult for a squad largely unfamiliar with that experience.

The defender said the team are eager to restore their position at the top of the domestic game and regain the gold badge associated with winning the league. He also linked success in the Betway Premiership with qualification for the Champions League, where Sundowns want to continue competing at the highest level.

“We want to win the league again,” said Modiba.

“The feeling was not nice losing the league cause some of us have never experienced that.

“We want to go back of winning the league every season because you win it, you go back to the Champions League.

“And we always want to do well in the Champions League, get our gold badge back.

“But congratulations to Pirates, they deserve it and we go again this season, another marathon that we know very well how to run, let the games begin.”

Modiba said the players are prepared to do everything required to reclaim the championship and are looking forward to starting their league campaign.

His comments underline Sundowns’ desire to respond immediately after losing a title they had won eight times in succession. The club’s previous dominance had made the league championship a familiar achievement, while last season’s result provided a different experience for several members of the squad.

The CAF Champions League triumph offered significant consolation, but Modiba made clear that success in continental competition did not remove the disappointment of falling short domestically. For Sundowns, the new Betway Premiership campaign represents an opportunity to resume their previous pattern of winning the league and securing another route into the Champions League.

Orlando Pirates’ success remains fully acknowledged by the Sundowns defender, who said the new champions deserved their title. But with the next league campaign about to begin, Modiba’s message is that Sundowns are ready for another demanding season and intend to recover the trophy they lost.

“The Brazilians” now face the challenge of turning that ambition into results across the long league campaign. Modiba described the competition as a marathon Sundowns know well, and said the team are ready for it to begin.