CAF Champions League preview

CAF Champions League preview
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The race for Africa’s premier club title is about to enter its decisive phase with the start of the competition’s mini-league this weekend. The remaining eight contestants – Congolese outfit TP Mazembe, ES Setif of Algeria, Tunisian champions Esperance, and Dynamos of Zimbabwe in Group A, and Heartland of Nigeria, Algeria’s JS Kabylie and the two Egyptian outfits, Al Ahly and Ismaily, in Group B – will be battling it out for the top-two spots in their respective sections and places in the semi-finals.

Great expectations
This current phase kicks off on Friday with the visit of Esperance to ES Setif’s 8th of May Stadium. The capacity 30,000 crowd in Setif will be in expectant mood having seen their side prevail against the visitors in the teams' last meeting. Moreover, the Algerians have just finished an intensive 10-day training camp in Tunisia, where they enjoyed two morale-boosting wins against top flight opposition.

Tempering that optimism, however, has been a spate of recent injuries and concerns about the fitness of key players. Hadj Aissa and Youcef Ghazali are struggling to shake off knocks picked up early on in Tunisia, a fate that also befell Abdelmoumene Djabou and Hocine Metref. With the latter having been definitely been ruled out of their opening fixture, coach Noureddine Zekri will be hoping the club’s famously passionate home supporters can inspire their heroes to a winning start.

For their part, Esperance opponents rounded off their preparations with a crushing 4-0 win over local rivals CS Sfaxien shortly before leaving for Algeria. However, coach Faouzi Benzarti will be missing injured Nigerian striker Michael Eneramo and will have to call on Ghanaian Harrison Afful and Youssef Mskani to deputise for his injured captain.

In Group A’s other fixture, Dynamos face a stern test with the visit of defending champions TP Mazembe. That said, the Harare side have overcome stiff odds in the past, not least in the same tournament two years ago when they emerged from a group containing Egyptians giants Al Ahly and Zamalek as well as Côte d'Ivoire’s ASEC Mimosas at the expense of the latter two. Commenting on their last-eight draw, former Dynamos coach David Mandigora said: “We’re in a very difficult group but facing the holders in the first match could work in our favour. If we can beat them, then that could give us the impetus to go on and reach the last four.”

More than a game
Another battle royal is expected in the Group B clash between Egypt’s Ismaily and JS Kabylie of Algeria. In the wake of the social and political tensions that accompanied Algeria’s elimination of the Pharaohs in a play-off for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ last year, both countries will be hoping the meeting in Ismaily is remembered for purely sporting reasons and is a step towards the normalisation of their relationship.

For his part, Kabylie striker Mohamed Amine was focusing solely on footballing challenge, saying: “The match will certainly be very difficult, as we’re facing a strong, well respected team with a fantastic history. Ismaily will be very difficult to beat on their own ground and I think they’ll cause us a few problems.”

The hosts, meanwhile, will be without key holding midfielder Hosny Abd Rabo - currently out with cruciate ligament damage - causing a further headache for coach Mark Wotte, who has only one recognised striker available in Mohamed Mohsen. His Kabylie counterpart, the Swiss-born Alain Geiger, opted to take the Canaries to Morocco for their preparation, as they look to upset the 2003 African champions

In the second Group B match, last year’s runners up, Heartland, will host Al Ahly. The Nigerians had a far from ideal build-up with the club enduring financial problems and then parting company with their coaching team this week. Replacements have just been appointed, led by former international Samson Siasia, and they could hardly have been given a tougher start. An official spokesman for the club said this week: “We’ll be giving every support to him [Siasia] but are seeking nothing less than victory over Al Ahly.”

After six years under Portuguese coach Manuel Jose, during which time Al Ahly picked up three African Champions League titles, coaching duties are now the responsibility of Hossam El-Badry. The Egyptian strategist will be hoping to follow in his predecessors footsteps and do justice to their tag as favourites, and will take encouragement from his side’s successful two-week preparation in Germany and Austria.