Downs to face TP Mazembe in Super Cup

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo team TP Mazembe Engelbert served notice of their prowess with an emphatic win in the African Confederation Cup final on Sunday to book a Super Cup meeting with Mamelodi Sundowns in February.

TP Mazembe were 4-1 winners at home in Lubumbashi and ensured a 5-2 aggregate win over Algeria’s MO Bejaia.

Victory resulted in the DRC side lifting a piece of continental hardware for a second successive year.

They will now meet Sundowns in a fight for the Super Cup‚ a title they hold‚ in Pretoria on February 18.

The annual one-off match between the Champions League winners and the victors of the Confederation Cup will be hosted by Patrice Motsepe’s Champions League-winning Brazilians.

Mazembe were the Champions League winners last year and won this year’s Super Cup by beating Etoile Sahel of Tunisia 2-1 in Lubumbashi.

Mazembe also won in 2010 and 2011 although are still way behind the six successes Al Ahly of Egypt have achieved.

Orlando Pirates won the Super Cup in 1996 when they beat JS Kabylie.

The only other South African side to play in the game were Kaizer Chiefs‚ given a solid 4-1 thumping by Al Ahly in Cairo in 2002.

That game will be remembered for the bizarre own-goal from then-Chiefs goalkeeper Brian Baloyi.

Ahly goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary noticed that Baloyi was out of position and hit a free kick from well inside his own half. The ball came off the Chiefs’ crossbar and hit the goalkeeper on the back of his head before‚ unbelievably‚ bouncing into the net.

When the Super Cup was first launched, it was played at a neutral venue but in 1995 when it was held at Soccer City‚ the stadium was virtually empty for the match between Al Ahly and Zamalek‚ to the horror of Egyptians‚ who always fill up the stadium when the two meet in Cairo.

Two years later, CAF designated home advantage for the match to the League winner.