Tough road for SuperSport, Ajax
Tough road for SA teams
Posted: 2008-12-05 13:29
South Africa’s representatives face another tough road to glory after the draw for the 2009 CAF Champions League was made in Cairo on Friday.
Absa Premiership champions SuperSport United will face Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius in the preliminary round starting at the end of January.
The Mauritians were beaten 4-0 on aggregate by United’s Tshwane rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in the first round of the 2008 competition and are therefore no strangers to South African opposition.
Should Matsatsantsa progress, they will take on the winners of the tie between Mozambique’s Ferroviaro de Maputo and Kampala City Council of Uganda, both of who have decent pedigree on the African continent.
Should they come through that hurdle, they will meet either Ittihad (Libya), Al-Merreikh (Sudan), with last season's Champions League top scorer Stephen Worgu, or Atraco FC (Rwanda).
Ajax Cape Town, who finished runners-up in the Absa Premiership last season, have received a bye to the first round given their regular participation in African competition over the past few years.
There they will face the winner of the tie between Zimbabwe’s representatives, who have yet to be decided, but could well be 2008 semifinalists Dynamos, who are battling for the national crown with Monomatapa, and Miembeni from Zanzibar, who lost 5-0 on aggregate to Sundowns last season.
The winner of that tie will move forward to face either Asec Mimosas (Ivory Coast), Heart of Lions (Ghana) or Etoile Filante (Burkina Faso), none of which are appealing ties.
In the CAF Confederations Cup, Sundowns have a bye in the preliminary round and will face the winner of the tie between AS Vacoas Phoenix (Mauritius) and AS Adema (Madagascar).
Assuming they beat either of those two sides, they will play either AS Vita Club (DR Congo), who South Africans will remember well from winning the Vodacom Challenge in 2004, Atletico Muçulmano (Mozambique) or Malanti Chiefs (Swaziland).
Santos, who should have been South Africa’s other representative in the Confederation Cup were not entered into the competition after the PSL forgot they were allowed a second team in the tournament and did not submit their registration details.
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