Giants to meet in CAF Champs League
Never before have the Orange CAF Champions League group stages brought together as many top winners.
Of the eight teams who have made it to the group stages, six have won at least one of the continent's top club competitions and the two others have at least once been finalists. This illustrates the level of the competition that begins in mid July.
Eliminated in the eight finals last year, Al Ahly have returned to the top of the African game by eliminating Libya’s Al Ittihad in the last round.
The team has quality players, even though some have started to show signs of fatigue. However, the club is certainly going to be ready before the matches of the group stages start.
The six-time champions (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2008), and two-time finalists (1983, 2007) are undeniably the leaders of African football in the last decade -- which is why the team has been a constant nursery for the Egyptian national team, the Pharaohs.
Among the contenders are three-time champions TP Mazembe.
The Congolese club were the leading light during the early days of African club competitions and played four consecutive finals from 1967 to 1970, and won two (1967, 1968).
The team has returned to the limelight after decades in the doldrums and have become an example of how professional clubs of the continent could be. With its financial ability, the Lubumbashi-based outfit does not hesitate to go in search of good talent wherever it may be.
Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie, who were exceptional in the '80s and '90s, winning the title twice in 1981 and 1990, are back in contention.
JSK are one of the rare teams to have won all three CAF competitions, the Cup Winners Cup, the CAF Cup and the Champions Cup. The team also achieved an exploit, winning the CAF Cup three times in a row (2000, 2001, 2002).
After the three teams, which have distinguished themselves on the continent, comes another Egyptian side, Ismaïly, who became the first club in the country to win the Champions Cup (1969).
That year the team defeated TP Englebert, now TP Mazembe.
Esperance of Tunis, after years of problems, have reintegrated with Africa’s top elite.
The 1994 African Champions then went on to play two finals in 1999 and 2000. They were beaten in all two games, first by Raja Casablanca, and then by Hearts of Oak Accra.
Like JS Kabylie and Etoile Sahel of Sousse, the Tunisian giants are the third club to have won all three African club competitions.
The last team with a victory is Entente Setif, who were winners in 1988.
The team defeated then Iwuanyanwu National of Owerri, who today are known as Heartland FC. Heartland are also in the race this time after losing to TP Mazembe in last year’s finals.
Dynamos of Harare have played the second phase of the Champions League many times and were the losing finalists in 1998 against ASEC of Abidjan.
In total, the 2010 Champions League will bring together six former champions, 14 titles (out of the 45) and 10 former finalists.
North Africa is heavily represented with five of the eight representatives, two from Algeria, two from Egypt and one from Tunisia. West Africa has just one representative, Heartland of Nigeria.
Central Africa is represented by TP Mazembe and Southern Africa is represented by Dynamos.
Source: Cafonline.com