As the only Southern African winner of the CAF Champions League, Orlando Pirates have a special affinity with the competition. The Buccaneers’ romance with the premier continental tournament began in 1995 when, against almost all odds, they claimed the trophy. The Soweto side’s long and winding route to glory started with an easy victory over humble XI Men in Flight of Swaziland and ended with a 3-2 aggregate triumph over ASEC Abidjan of Cote d’Ivoire. Sadly, that was the peak for Bucs, though they have since gone deep into the tournament on two occasions. In 1996, their attempt to defend their title ended at the quarterfinal stage after being outclassed by Shooting Stars of Nigeria, while a decade later in 2006 they reached the semifinals and were narrowly ousted by Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien. In 2010 and 2012 they had the embarrassment of being eliminated at the first hurdle by Gabarone United (Botswana) and CRD Libolo (Angola) respectively, two teams who are hardly giants of the African game. In 2013, however, Pirates have returned to form in African competition and qualified for the group phase of the Champions League for the first time since 2006, eliminating former champions TP Mazembe 3-2 on aggregate in the second round. They now find themselves in Group A along with AC Leopards of Republic of Congo and Egyptian duo Al Ahly and Zamalek. Their group campaign begins this Saturday night with a home clash against Leopards at Orlando Stadium, kick-off at 20h15 CAT. Pirates in the CAF Champions League: Years participated: 1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013 Best result: Champions, 1995 Overall record (including preliminary stage games): P60 W30 D15 L15 GF95 GA53
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 07:56:39 +0000
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