Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs progressed to their maiden CAF Champions League semifinals despite losing the second leg quarterfinal match 3-0 to Tanzania’s Simba SC in Tanzania yesterday.
Amakhosi booked their berth in the semifinals on a 4-3 aggregate score after hammering Simba 4-0 last week in Johannesburg.
The progression means Amakhosi are already guaranteed R12 million in prize money.
However, they will have a mountain to climb if they wish to reach the finals with Morrocan giants Wydad AC standing in their way.
Wydad, the 2017 winners and 2018-19 runners-up of the competition, are one of the best and most successful football teams in Africa and one of the most popular clubs in Morocco, with 20 Moroccan league titles to their name.
Amakhosi will have to be top of their game when they meet the North African giants. Wydad hammered Chiefs 4-0 when they met in Group C in March.
However, the Moroccans lost their second meeting 1-0 in Johannesburg when they sent a reserve team to avoid Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.
The first leg of the semifinals will take place in Morocco on the weekend of 18 and 19 June, with the second leg in South Africa the following weekend.
Meanwhile, Mamelodi Sundowns bowed out of the CAF Champions League after drawing 1-1 with Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the quarterfinal, second leg tie at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, east of Pretoria yesterday.
Al Ahly came down to Pretoria with a comfortable cushion following their 2-0 victory in Cairo last Saturday.
The defending champions will now face Tunisian giants Esperance Sportive de Tunis, who beat Moroccan club CR Belouizdad 3-2 on penalties.
The Sundowns, Al Ahly match was preceded by unsavoury scenes outside the stadium as some Sundowns fans hurled insults at former Downs coach Pitso Mosimane, who left the club last year after a successful stint with Sundowns.
Mosimane expressed his disappointment at the treatment meted out to him by a section of the fans. “I was a bit emotional when I saw the placards…fans swearing at me and my mother. I said to myself, what else should I have done for the team (Sundowns) to gain the respect?” Mosimane said in the post-match interview.
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