Leopard begin E5m ‘carrot’ chase
M- Eswatini CAF Confederation Cup envoys Royal Leopard launch their bid to reach the CAF Confederation Cup group stages for a second straight year. After being relegated from Africa’s toptier tournament to the CAF Confederation Cup, they will face Mali’s Real Bamako in the play-offs first leg at Somhlolo National Stadium this afternoon. This stage of the tournament is also dubbed the additional second preliminary round and it features the 16 losing teams from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League and the same number of winning football sides from the Confederation Cup. Despite starting at home, the police side will have to dig deep into their reserves of courage to brush aside the illustrious opponents, who have proven a hard nut to crack in the first two rounds of
TEAMS PROFILES
LEOPARD
CAF Ranking – 54th
Key players – Muzi ‘Mzoro’ Dlamini, Junior Magagula, Thami Zulu
JOURNEY TO PLAY-OFFS:
CAF Champions League
First round (Preliminary)
CFFA 2-3 Leopard
Leopard 2-1 CFFA
(Leopard won 5-3 on aggregate)
Second round (Preliminary)
Leopard 1-1 Coton Sport
Coton Sport 2-1 Leopard
(Coton Sport won 3-2 on aggregate)
the CAF Confederation Cup this term. To reach this round, Bamako, who are 41st in Africa, caused the biggest upset by eliminating giants Hearts of Oak from Accra, Ghana, with a 3-1 aggregate.
The latter were CAF Champions League winners in 2000, before clinching Africa’s second-tier tournament four years later. It is a first meeting between Leopard and Bamako and the latter seems destined to leave a mark after arriving at least four days before the clash.
Despite facing tricky opponents, Leopard, who are ranked 54th in Africa, will also be buoyed by their continental experience after claiming big scalps in previous editions that include a win over Zambia’s Zesco United.
Coach Matsebula will want to unleash
RS BAMAKO:
CAF Ranking – 41st
Key players – Moussa Kone, Ismael Bamba, Chieckna Diakite
JOURNEY TO PLAY-OFFS
CAF Confederation Cup
First round (Preliminary)
De Ouagadougou 0-0 Real Bamako
Real Bamako 0-0 D. de Ouagadougou (Bamako won 3-1 on penalties)
Second round (preliminary)
Real Bamako 3-1 Hearts of Oak Hearts of Oak 1-0 Bamako
(Bamako won 3-1 on aggregate)
the best from his arsenal and the likes of skipper Muzi ‘Mzoro’ Dlamini, enterprising midfielder Junior Magagula, and sturdy centre-back Thami Zulu are expected to get a nod. The message is loud and clear for Edwin Matsebula’s men; score as many goals as possible but keep the backdoor shut. The players need no motivation, as the winner of the two-legged tie is guaranteed about E5 million for reaching the group stages.