May 17 – Chasing down an African Champions League final spot in Casablanca, Kaizer Chiefs registered an impressive 4-0 first-leg quarter-final win against Tanzania’s Simba to all but qualify for the last four. Defending champions Al Ahly from Egypt also to a step towards the semi-finals. defeating Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0.
This weekend the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed the hosting rights of July’s Champions League final for Morocco following a meeting of its executive committee. South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs will be confident that they can reach the showpiece match after a thumping win against Simba in the last eight. The circumstances favoured the hosts with Simba less accustomed to playing at altitude and in the cold, allowing the Soweto giants to breeze past their opponents.
A brace from Samir Nurkovic, plus headers from Eric Mathoho as well as Leo Castro secured an emphatic win for Amakhosi. They could well be the only South African club in the last four after Mamelodi Sundowns succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in Cairo against the reigning champions. In the 89th minute, Salah Mohsen scored a crucial second goal for Al Ahly, securing a vital cushion for the Egyptians before next weekend’s return leg in South Africa. The result is deja vu for Mamelodi because last season the club, owned by CAF president Patrice Motsepe, also crashed out of the competition against Al Ahly at the same stage after losing the first leg 2-0 in Egypt.
The irony of the results won’t be lost on observers. This season Mamelodi Sundowns have been dominant in South Africa and around the continent while Chiefs have struggled to finish in the left half of the league table. The Chiefs have not won a single trophy in the last five years, ceding terrain to Pretoria-based Mamelodi.
Elsewhere, MC Alger and Wydad Casablanca drew 1-1 and Belouizdad defeated Esperance 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. The competition’s final will be staged on July 17 in Morocco. CAF also picked Benin’s Cotonou as the host city for the final of the Confederation Cup, the continent’s second-tier club competition.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1734920462labto1734920462ofdlr1734920462owedi1734920462sni@o1734920462fni1734920462