CAF Champions League Resumes With Epic Quarterfinal Matches

The CAF Champions League takes center stage this weekend as eight teams left standing off the 55 who started the journey battle for a place in the semi-final.

Profile of the (8) teams:

Clube Ferroviário da Beira is a Mozambican football club based in Beira; the Estádio do Ferroviário serves as their home stadium. The team gained prime support mostly as a result of being Colonial Champions in 1974.

On the continent, they have been competitive since 1994 when they made it to the second round of the African Cup Winners’ Cup. Also, they recorded appearances in the CAF Confederation Cup. Key player – Chelito Omar (Midfielder)

 

Union Sportive Médina d’Alger popularly referred to as USM Alger. The club founded in 1937 is based in the city of Algiers.

In 2015, they finished as Runner-up in the CAF Champions League. Key Player – Oussama Darfalou (Forward)

 

Al Ahly Sporting Club is an Egyptian sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. They are tagged as “the club of the century” for the record number of trophies won across board – a record 39 national titles, 36 national cups and 9 national super cups.

On the continent, The club has 8 CAF Champions League titles, 1 CAF Confederation Cup title, 6 CAF Super Cup titles and 4 African Cup Winners’ Cup titles.

Internationally, Al Ahly has won the Bronze medal in FIFA Club World Cup 2006. Key player – Amr Gamal (Striker)

 

Espérance Sportive de Tunis is a sports club based in Tunis, Tunisia. The Stade El Menzah is the club’s home stadium. They’ve made 13 appearances in the CAF Champions League from 1999 till date – emerging champions in 1994 and 2011. Key player – Taha Yassine Khenissi (Forward)

 

Mamelodi Sundowns is a South African football club based in Pretoria. They are the current CAF Champions League holders and 2016 CAF Club of the Year.

Domestically, Sundowns have won the league title a record (7) times and hold the joint record of three National Football League Championships. They are the only South African team to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup. Key player – Sibusiso Vilakazi (Midfielder)

 

Wydad Casablanca is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca, Morocco. The team is well known in Africa by its fans called ‘Winners’ – The rivalry with neighbors Raja makes the derby between Raja and Wydad one of the most popular derbies in world football.

On the continent, they’ve achieved a level of success as winner of the CAF Champions League in 1992, and Runner-up in 2011. Key player – Fabrice N’Guessi Ondama (Striker)

 

Al-Ahli Sports Club, known as Al Ahli Tripoli is a Libyan football club based in Tripoli and the second most successful Libyan club in history, having won 12 Libyan Premier League titles, six Libyan Football Cups and a Libyan Super Cup.

On the continent, they’ve recently become frequent campaigners notably in the CAF Champions League. Key player – Mohamed Al Ghannudi (Forward)

 

The Étoile Sportive du Sahel, a sports club from Sousse in Tunisia is considered to be one of the best from that part of Africa.

They won the CAF Champions League in 2007, finished Runners-up in 2004 and 2005. Key player – Rami Bedoui (Defender)

 

Fixtures:

  • 16 Sep: Ferroviario Da Beira vs Union Sportive Médina d’Alger
  • 16 Sep: Al Ahly Cairo vs Esperance Tunis
  • 17 Sep: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Wydad AC Casablanca
  • 17 Sep: Al-Ahli Tripoli vs ES Sahel

Top Scorers:

  • Saladin Said (Saint George) – 7 Goals
  • Muaid Ellafi (Al-Ahli Tripoli)- 6 goals