A-Z of the Confederation Cup

Saturday sees the second leg of this year’s African Confederation Cup where this year’s winner will be decided.

As the build-up to the finale continues, here is all you need to know about the competition:

A – Amalgamation was the name of the game in 2003 when the Confederation of African Football decided to combine the old African Cup Winners’ Cup and CAF Cup into a single competition, called the Confederation Cup, taking the example from Uefa

B – Black Leopards were in the second division in South African football when they represented the country in the 2011 Confederation Cup, having been relegated the year before but qualifying because they were cup runners-up to double winners Orlando Pirates

C – CS Sfaxien from Tunisia have proven the most successful club in the competition’s history with three successes in 2007, 2008 and 2013 and they were runners-up in 2010

D – Dutch coach Ruud Krol left Pirates after double success in 2011 and went onto CS Sfaxien, with whom he won the 2013 Confederation Cup

E – Etoile Sahel from Tunisia won in 2006 and again in 2015, when they edged Orlando Pirates in the final, drawing 1-1 in the first leg at the Orlando Stadium and then winning 1-0 at home in Sousse

F – Fiston Mayele is the Congolese striker at Tanzania’s Young Africans who is the top scorer in this year’s competition with seven goals and been linked with a possible move to Kaizer Chiefs

G – As shock winners of the 2019 Nedbank Cup, second division TS Galaxy went into the 2020 Confederation Cup making it through to the third round where they were beaten by Enyimba of Nigeria

H – Hearts of Oak were the first ever winners of the Confederation Cup in 2004, beating Asante Kotoko on post-match penalties in an all-Ghanaian affair in the final

I – Ivory Coast club Sewe Sport reach the final nine years ago, breaking through the long standing duopoly in the country’s football enjoyed by ASEC Abidjan and Africa Sport

J – The July 5 Stadium in Algiers is where Saturday’s second leg of this year’s final will take place after USM Alger refused a request from the Algerian federation to move it to the new Nelson Mandela Stadium because they prefer to play at their home ground

K – Kaizer Chiefs are one of 16 South African clubs who have competed in the Confederation Cup but AmaKhosi in 2005, 2014 and 2019 were all brief

L – Lights Stars from Seychelles were hammered 9-0 on aggregate by Wits in the 2016 Confederation Cup, which is the most convincing win in the tournament by a South African side

M – Marumo Gallants went all the way to the semifinals this year but the nomadic club from Polokwane lost at home in the second leg of the semifinal three days later and were relegated from the DStv Premiership

N – Nigeria is where last year’s final was hosted at the King Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo but from this year it reverts back to being played over two legs

O - Orlando Pirates have twice reached the Confederation Cup final but lost to Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel in 2015 and Renaissance Berkane of Morocco last year

P – Prize money for the winner of the Confederation Cup has just been increased to US$2-million while the runner-up gets half that amount. Losing semifinalists, including Gallants, earn $750 000

Q – Qatar is the ultimate destination for the winner of the Confederation Cup because they get to take on the African Champions League winner in the one-off Super Cup, which for the last two years has been held in Doha, and is another opportunity for the clubs to earn much needed money

R – Ronwen Williams kept goal for SuperSport United in the 2017 Confederation Cup final when they narrowly lost to TP Mazembe but missed out this year with Mamelodi Sundowns for a place in the Champions League final

S – Sekhukhune United and SuperSport United will be South Africa’s two representatives in next season’s Confederation Cup after Matsatsantsa finished third in the DStv Premiership and Sekhukhune were runners-up in the Nedbank Cup to Pirates, who have qualified for the Champions League

T – Thembinkosi Lorch was the only player to miss a kick in the post-match shootout in last year’s final as Pirates lost 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final in Uyo, Nigeria, against Renaissance Berkane

U – USM Alger are on the brink of their first ever continental club competition trophy as they have a 2-1 advantage over Yanga from the first leg of the Confederation Cup final in Dar-es-Salaam last Sunday

V – Vita Club were the high profile Congolese club knocked out of the 2022 edition of the Confederation Cup by Marumo Gallants in an upset result. But the Kinshasa based club did reach the final in 2017

W – Wits University were the first South African side to compete in the Confederation Cup in 2004, beating Mozambican opposition in the first round but then exiting in the second round to a shock loss to US Transport from Madagascar

X – Extra time is never played in the Confederation Cup. If teams are level after two legs they go straight to penalties to sort out the winner

Y – Young Africans are only the second club from Tanzania to reach the final of the African club competition, following in the footsteps of Simba who got to the CAF Cup decider in 1993 but lost to Stella Abidjan

Z – Zamalek of Egypt have had success in the Confederation Cup, winning in 2019 albeit needing post-match penalties after the final in order to lift the trophy.