BY BATSIRAI SANGO CHAGONDA.
The African Champions league has reached the business end of proceedings with the final four having secured their place in the semifinals on the weekend of April 29, 2023.
The football loving audiences both on the continent and beyond have been treated to some football fiesta with nerve breaking and suspense moments in this season’s champions league.
The two most anticipated matches of the quarter finals were the one involving Tshwane giants and 2016 champions Mamelodi Sundowns playing against CR Belouizdad of Algeria, and Simba FC of Tanzania who took on Wydad Casablanca carrying a 1nil lead from the first leg in Da-re Salaam.
Mamelodi Sundowns were rampant as they put CR Belouizdad to the sword 4-1 in their own back yard a week prior in Algeria.
The biggest upset as alluded to earlier came in the match pitting Simba and Wydad Casablanca and the 2nd leg was hugely anticipated.
Surprisingly the two Simba Fc and Mamelodi Sundowns were the only teams from the sub-Saharan divide of the continent with the other 6 making up the last 8 from the Maghreb region of the motherland.
Apart from the two you had Wydad Casablanca, Raja Casablanca both from Morrocco, CR Belouizdad, JS Kabylie from Algeria and Esperance and Al Ahly from Tunisia and Egypt respectively.
The number of teams from the norther part of the continent shows in itself the level of seriousness, passion, dedication teams from the Maghreb give to club competitions on the continent.
Such a situation leaves football mad fanatics on the continent wondering where giants like Tp Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Enyimba of Nigeria, Hearts of Oak of Ghana, ASEC Mimosa of the Ivory Coast have gone to.
Not to mention most recently Horoya Athletic FC of Guinea Conakry and Orlando Pirates who last featured in the champions league final 10 years ago losing to eventual champions Al Ahly, and 1998 finalists and 2008 semifinalists Dynamos of Zimbabwe.
As the European champions league has played out this season Italian giants AC Milan who have one of the storied journeys in the competition got to the semifinals the first time in more than 10 seasons so did their city rivals and opponents in the semifinals Inter Milan.
What other way to market the competition and the European game overall than having a derby in the semifinals the Derby Della Madonnina.
The African champions league needs that as well in order for the game to grow and attract as much commercial viability as possible as the teams mentioned come with them a huge following of supporters.
The north Africans have something they are doing right and the rest of the continent ought to follow suit such football can grow on the continent and can be a vehicle of socio development. In the case Mamelodi Sundowns they seem to have hit the right gong as they put all northerners to the sword both in the group stages and the knockout phase.
Who can forget how they became the first team to put 5 past Africa’s club of the century Al Ahly giving coach Pitso Mosimane the esteemed standing he holds in Egypt and on the continent. As they hosted their Algerian counterparts, they made sure they wouldn’t make a catastrophic fall, capitulate like what happened to Barcelona against Liverpool as the Catalan giants lost 4-0 having won the first leg 3-0 at Camp Nouh.
The 2019 European champions league semifinal pitting Merseyside giants Liverpool and Barcelona was the greatest ever semifinal comeback in the history of the competition and Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena and his troops went into the match fully aware of that in mind.
As the last 8 played out Mamelodi Sundowns won the match 2-1 with captain Themba Zwane leading from the front, Simba FC lost out on the penalty lottery as they failed to hold their nerve with Wydad Casablanca winning 4-3 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 on aggregate.
They were two north African derbies with Al Ahly taking on Raja Casablanca with the Cairo giants walking away 2nil victors on aggregate whilst Esperance of Tunisia beat JS Kabylie of Algeria by 2 goals to 1.
As fate would have it again the semifinals saw 3 teams from north Africa and only one from the Saharan divide in Mamelodi Sundowns making it to the last 4 were they are going to meet a familiar foe in Wydad Casablanca with Cairo giants Al Ahly taking on Esperance of Tunisia.
Match ups between Mamelodi Sundowns and any of their Maghreb counterparts have become one of the most interesting matches on the African football scene in recent times, and this upcoming semifinal is no different.
The first semifinal showdown will be on the 12th of May next Friday with Al Ahly taking on Esperance and the other pitting Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad Casablanca taking place the next day on Saturday the 13th of May. The 2nd legs will be on the following weekend and there is no David versus Goliath in this instance as its giants against giants with all teams having been champions of the competition previously, in the last ten years.
