EXACTLY 90 days after Orlando Pirates lost to Egypt's Al Ahly in the second leg of the African Champions League final in Cairo, the battle for honours in Africa's top club competition begins all over again.
The 2014 edition opens this weekend with Kaizer Chiefs hoisting South Africa's flag as they host Black Africa of Namibia in the first leg of their opening round tie.
The match will be played at FNB Stadium on Saturday, starting at 8pm - just 15 minutes before SuperSport United begin their second successive campaign in the African Confederation Cup with a home tie against Gaborone United of Botswana at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
Both SA representatives play away next weekend in the return legs in Windhoek and Gaborone.
This year's African club competition is being squeezed in a horror year for African football.
The African Champions League will go through three preliminary knockout rounds by the end of March but the date for the draw for the competition proper has been moved from the start to the end of April. There will be group phase games in May before the World Cup.
The group phase usually only starts in mid-July, but the second half of the year is jam-packed full of African Nations Cup qualifying dates, making a potential nightmare for Chiefs if they get through to the group stages.
Matsatsantsa must get through to four knockout rounds before the group stages of the Confederation Cup. Last year, ENPPI of Egypt eliminated them in the third round.
Chiefs begin Champs League epic
EXACTLY 90 days after Orlando Pirates lost to Egypt's Al Ahly in the second leg of the African Champions League final in Cairo, the battle for honours in Africa's top club competition begins all over again.
The 2014 edition opens this weekend with Kaizer Chiefs hoisting South Africa's flag as they host Black Africa of Namibia in the first leg of their opening round tie.
The match will be played at FNB Stadium on Saturday, starting at 8pm - just 15 minutes before SuperSport United begin their second successive campaign in the African Confederation Cup with a home tie against Gaborone United of Botswana at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
Both SA representatives play away next weekend in the return legs in Windhoek and Gaborone.
This year's African club competition is being squeezed in a horror year for African football.
The African Champions League will go through three preliminary knockout rounds by the end of March but the date for the draw for the competition proper has been moved from the start to the end of April. There will be group phase games in May before the World Cup.
The group phase usually only starts in mid-July, but the second half of the year is jam-packed full of African Nations Cup qualifying dates, making a potential nightmare for Chiefs if they get through to the group stages.
Matsatsantsa must get through to four knockout rounds before the group stages of the Confederation Cup. Last year, ENPPI of Egypt eliminated them in the third round.