CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has described today’s Orange CAF Confederations Cup last 16 round, return leg clash to be played at Rufaro against Al Hilal of Sudan as a tall order.

The Zimbabwean club trail Al Hilal a massive 5-0 from the first leg match played in Omdurman a fortnight ago and must match that score line without reply to force a post-match penalty that will decide who goes through to next month’s mini-league stage of the Confederations Cup.

Chitembwe told Cafonline from Harare on Friday that he is under no illusions that a herculean task awaits his side against Al Hilal who reached the semifinals of last year’s Orange Champions League.

“The game against Al Hilal will be very difficult and it is a tall order considering the result from the first leg,” Chitembwe said.
Chitembwe admitted that the departure of six key players to three South African clubs has hit the four-time Zimbabwean champions’ chances of advancing to the Confederations Cup mini-league stage next month.

Most prominent on the half-a-dozen departures is their former star striker Nyasha Mushekwi who scored four goals for CAPS in the competition this season before moving to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa last month.

“We lost six very important players to South African clubs two to Ajax Cape Town, two to Mamelodi Sundowns and one to Moroka Swallows,” Chitembwe said.

“The most important thing right now is to start rebuilding the team and build from there with this game. This game will be specifically to build a new team for the future.”

And so the onus will be on promising talents like midfielder Thabani Goredema to step up in front of the home fans today while Chitembwe is also banking on the fitness of veteran forward Leonard Tsipa who missed the first leg away to Al Hilal due to injury. Skipper Nyasha Mukumbi is expected to steady the Green Machine’s rocking ship.

Nigeria’s Enyimba and CAPS United are hoping to mastermind historical comebacks in today’s return matches of the second last 16 round matches of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup.

Twice continental lords, Enyimba lost 0-4 to Zanaco of Zambia, whilst CAPS United were decimated by Sudanese giants Al Hilal; and the duo must produce the greatest of comebacks in the history of the continental club championship to bounce back.

Whilst scoring six-unanswered goals will remain a huge task for CAPS United, who have scored a total six goals in previous rounds, Enyimba will be counting on their luck spell in a similar scenario during the previous round.

The recently crowned Nigerian champions overturned a 0-3 loss to AS Vita Club of DR Congo in the first leg at the last 16 round and marched on 6-5 after penalties, a feat captain Okey Odita maintains is replicable.

The “People’s Elephant” as Nigeria’s most successful club are nicknamed have been impenetrable at their Aba fortress, and Odita predicts another surprise is in the offing.

“Nothing is impossible in football. It’s a herculean task but achievable. We are definitely going to make Nigeria proud by qualifying to the mini-league stage,” assured the defender.

A place at the last eight will take Niger ‘Army Officers’ AS FAN into the history books but they must overcome their Sudanese guests, Al Merrikh.
The Nigeriens have emerged the most surprising candidates of the second tier continental club championship after easing past renowned campaigners, Etoile du Sahel and Daring Club Motema Pembe of Tunisia and DR Congo respectively en route to reaching this far.

After brushing past Etoile and Motema Pembe, both former winners of at least a continental club championship, AS FAN, who stole a vital 2-2 draw against the 17-time Sudan champions and 1989 winners of the defunct CAF Cup Winners’ Cup in the first leg are poised to complete a historic hat-trick of triumphs over continental giants for a place at the lucrative mini-league stage of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup.
— Cafonline

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