Simon Hughes

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

The Athletic was granted access to South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns as the team prepared for the Club World Cup in the United States. Mamelodi Sundowns' training ground in Chloorkop is just outside Johannesburg, where the urban sprawl blurs northward all the way to Pretoria and the township the club is named after; a half-hour drive away if the traffic is moving.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

Maybe the easiest way to understand why Pep Guardiola using the University of Manchester as a stage to highlight the humanitarian disaster in Gaza felt so unusual is to check out the website of the football club that employs him. Manchester City covered Monday night's event where Guardiola was awarded with an honorary degree, dressed in a cap and gown, but there was no mention of Gaza in the story published on the club's online media channels.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

The Athletic spent four days with South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns as the team prepared for the Club World Cup in the United States. You can read part one here, with a final dispatch from Pretoria and a special podcast to come. When Mamelodi Sundowns clinched their latest South African Premiership title in May with a 3-0 victory over Chippa United, the team's Portuguese head coach Miguel Cardoso was presented with a cigar in the dressing room.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

Mamelodi Sundowns won their eighth South African Premiership title in a row with a game to spare in May but, before their last league fixture, the mood inside the meeting room at the club's training centre revealed much was still at stake. As Portuguese head coach Miguel Cardoso pulled down the blinds and clapped his hands for attention, the players could see a slogan on the wall behind him that reminded them that "discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments".

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

Sundowns won their eighth South African Premiership championship in a row in May, extending their record as the country's most successful team. The club now has 15 domestic titles compared to Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs, who both have four. Their dominance owes much to the investment of owner Patrice Motsepe, a mining billionaire who has handed over the running of the club to his son Tlhopie since he was elected as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2021.