Etoile du Sahel wary of Africa favourites tag - Orange CAF Champions League 2009

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Etoile du Sahel wary of Africa favourites tag

07-17-2009

Etoile du Sahel wary of Africa favourites tag

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Tunisian club Etoile du Sahel will carry the tag of favourites with great discomfort when the 13^th edition CAF Champions League group phase kicks off Saturday.

It has been a bad year for the 10 former title holders in the premier African club competition with only Etoile and Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo surviving a three-round qualifying process.

Among the eight casualties were Al-Ahly of Egypt, defending champions and hot favourites to win again this year, ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Club Africain of Tunisia, FAR Rabat of Morocco and Asante Kotoko of Ghana.

Etoile, winners two years ago, 1967 and 1968 champions Mazembe and twice runners-up Al-Hilal of Sudan are the only qualifiers to have previously reached the last-eight stage where the 3.5-million-dollar prize money kicks in.

Kano Pillars and Heartland of Nigeria, Al-Merreikh of Sudan, Zesco United of Zambia and, most surprising of all, Monomotapa of Zimbabwe complete the line-up for an intriguing 24-fixture mini-league schedule.

Given the number of upsets, with the away-goal victory of Kano over Ahly the biggest, no survivor will feel out of the running for the one-million-dollar first prize and a place at the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

Zesco and Kano get the action under way Saturday in the Zambian copperbelt town of Ndola followed a few hours later by the other Group A clash between arch domestic rivals Merreikh and Hilal in Omdurman.

Monomotapa start the ball rolling Sunday against Etoile in Harare with Mazembe hosting Heartland in the other Group B fixture in Lubumbashi, where the locals have not lost since 1988 in the Champions League.

Etoile failed on two previous visits to Zimbabwe, and the 'Red Devils' prepared under new coach Lofti Rhim for their first pool outing in Johannesburg, where the weather and altitude are similar to Harare.

Debutants Monomotapa have the poorest record this year of the eight qualifiers, winning their three home fixtures but losing all their away engagements. The Harare club also lack a 'big name' player while the club from the Tunisian Mediterranean resort of Sousse have several survivors from the trophy-winning squad including goalkeeper Aymen Methlouthi.

Stars tend to be a scarce commodity in the Champions League as those who make an impact are usually whisked off to the far more lucrative leagues of Europe and the Middle East.

Mazembe goal poacher Mputu Mabi is an exception with numerous reports linking him to foreign clubs proving false and he is a potential match winner against a Heartland team likely to be severely depleted.

Kano have drawn five consecutive Champions League matches and would probably settle for a similar outcome against Zesco, the first Zambian qualifiers for the group phase.

Merreikh could be the team to watch with Nigerian striker Endurance Idahor a consistent scorer at international level while Hilal were far less impressive in the elimination rounds.

Group fixtures continue until mid-September with the top two teams on the standings advancing to two-leg semi-finals during October and the championship wraps up the following month.

Fixtures
18-7-2009 19:00 Al Merrikh (Sudan) vs. Al Hilal (Sudan) Group A
18-7-2009 14:30 Zesco United (Zambia) vs. Kano Pillars (Nigeria) Group A
19-7-2009 14:30 Monomotapa (Zimbabwe) vs. ES Sahel (Tunisia) Group B
19-7-2009 17:00 T.P. Mazembe (DR Congo) vs. Heartland FC (Nigeria) Group B

RESULTS