Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will both travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the first legs of their CAF second preliminary round matches this weekend.
Chiefs, who are campaigning in the CAF Confederation Cup, will face AS Simba at the TP Mazembe Stadium in the south of Lubumbashi on Saturday. Kick-off is at 3:00pm.
The Buccaneers, who are Amakhosi’s arch-rivals in the PSL, will be playing in the same city outside of South Africa in continental competition back-to-back for the first time. Pirates will be facing St Eloi Lupopo at Stade Frederic Kibassa Maliba in the Champions League on Sunday. The Buccaneers reached the semifinals last season, where they were eliminated by eventual winners Pyramids FC, and they will be looking to proceed a step further, to the final in this campaign.
This will be Amakhosi’s second meeting with opposition from DRC in continental competition, having previously faced AS Vita in the 2014 CAF Champions League second round first leg. Chiefs lost the game 3-0 but were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate, despite winning the second leg 2-0.
This game is Chiefs’ first in the city of Lubumbashi. Their clash against AS Vita took place in the country’s capital city of Kinshasa. Chiefs striker Glody Lilepo, who hails from the DRC, will be heading back to his homeland for a reunion with AS Simba, a team he previously faced in the DRC’s top-flight, Linafoot, while on the books of AS Vita.
Chiefs will be looking to return home with an advantage ahead of the second leg on October 26, which will be played at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto. Chiefs will host a continental game at Dobsonville for the first time since April 2014, when they faced ASEC Mimosa in a CAF Confederation Cup play-off round 1st leg encounter.
Amakhosi have reached this stage of this season’s competition after overcoming Angolan side Kabuscorp on penalties after the aggregate scores were tied at 1-1. Lilepo’s goal in the second-leg of that tie was the Club’s 98th in African club competition and Amakhosi will be looking to reach the century mark in Lubumbashi this weekend.
AS Simba will become the fourth team from the DRC to face Chiefs on the pitch. In addition to their 2014 meeting against AS Vita in the CAF Champions League, Chiefs have also faced St Eloi Lupopo and TP Mazembe in friendly games.
