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Mzansi foursome into second round of African cup competition

cricket26 August 2024 11:00| © Mzansi Football
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CAF champions league trophy @ Getty images

Three of the four South African clubs in this season’s African club competition will have the advantage of playing the return leg of their second round ties at home with only Stellenbosch forced to away the decisive leg away.

The second-round ties in both the African Champions League and African Confederation Cup are being played on the weekends of September 13-15 and September 20-22 and determine which clubs go through to the group phase, where the prize money for competing is considerably increased.

Three of the four South African clubs in this season’s African club competition will have the advantage of playing the return leg of their second round ties at home with only Stellenbosch forced to away the decisive leg away.

Rookies Stellenbosch, making their debut in the Confederation Cup, advanced easily past Nsingizini Hotspurs of Eswatini 8-0 on aggregate in the first round but have a much tougher assignment in the next round against AS Vita Club from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Winelands club will be scrambling to find a stadium for the first leg. They had to host their first round, second leg game against Nsingizini Hotspurs in Durban but could end up playing against Vita Club at the Cape Town Stadium. The return match will be in Kinshasa.

Sekhukhune United were this season handed a bye into the second round of the Confederation Cup after reaching the group phase at their first attempt in the last campaign. They now take on CD Lunda-Sul from Angola, who squeezed into the second round on the away goals rule over Elgeco Plus from Madagascar.

In the Champions League, Mamelodi take on Mbabane Swallows, who had an upset win in the first round over Mozambican champions Ferroviario Beira.

Swallows hosted the first leg 1-0 in Atteridgeville because there are no suitable stadia in Eswatini. They will now have to find a venue for the first leg of their tie against Sundowns.

Orlando Pirates have a revenge meeting with Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana at the same stage of the Champions League that they were bundled out of last season. It was an embarrassing setback for coach Jose Riveiro and his side when Galaxy advanced to the group phase on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw – the only time a club from Botswana has eliminated a South African side from African club competition. Galaxy, with South African coach Morena Ramoreboli in charge, needed penalties on Saturday to advance in unconvincing fashion over African Stars from Namibia.

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