Four South African stars have joined Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns in the CAF Champions League group stages.
On Friday, Khanyisa Mayo and CR Belouizdad overcame a 1-0 first-leg defeat to AS Douanes in the second leg to force penalties. They then went on to win the shootout to avoid an upset.
On Saturday, three more SA stars abroad followed. First it was Percy Tau’s Al Ahly to book their ticket in the group stages. The CAFCL record champions made light work of Gor Mahia, beating them 3-0 in the second leg and 6-0 on aggregate.
Just two hours later, Al Ahly’s Egyptian rivals Pyramids followed suit. Fagrie Lakay’s side had to come from behind to beat APR FC 3-1 to progress 4-2 on aggregate.
Finally, Elias Mokwana’s ES Tunis celebrated the biggest win of the night, beating Dekadaha 8-0 on Saturday, with Youcef Belaili scoring a hat-trick. The Tunisian giants progressed 12-1 on aggregate.
It’s going to be interesting to see whether any of the SA stars will draw either Pirates or Sundowns in their groups for a home-coming later in the year.
