Setif eye African crown Algerian club Entente Setif, dismissed by some officials as not being good enough to win the 2014 CAF Champions League, are poised to lift the trophy this Saturday, AFP reports. A 2-2 draw at the Kinshasa ground of Congolese side V Club on Sunday has tilted the balance toward Setif in a contest between former title-holders. Vita triumphed 41 years ago when the competition was called the African Champions Cup and Setif conquered the continent 15 years later. Setif coach Kheireddine Madoui admitted to reporters that the Black Eagles came close to withdrawing from the Champions League this year. “National football federation officials wanted us to pull out for scheduling reasons and also because it was felt our club would not be very competitive in Africa,” he said. “We lost a lot of our squad this year and had to rebuild,” added the 37-year-old former Setif midfielder who became coach only three months ago. Fears that Setif would not be competitive were quickly allayed as Setif started by thumping Burkinabe visitors ASFA Yennenga 5-0 with leading scorer El Hedi Belameiri among the goals. The Algerians have played 13 matches ahead of the second leg of the final at the 45,000-seat Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida, 50 kilometres south of Algiers. And they lost only one, a 3-2 semi-final, second-leg defeat away to four-time African champions TP Mazembe, the other Congolese contenders. Entente boast a proud home record in the Champions League since a 1987 debut, winning 20 matches, drawing five, losing one and keeping 18 clean sheets. ift.tt/1qbwAtH ift.tt/1qGUBZv [[Boost your social presence with NAIRALIKES nairalikes ]] #nigeria x #nairalikes #vanguardng
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 00:59:51 +0000
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