Two Kenyans players, two clubs – one from South Africa and the other one from Tanzania – will be the cast in a game that has the potential of splitting Kenyan fans down in the middle when Simba take on Kaizer Chiefs in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals in mid May.
Kenya exported Joash Onyango to Simba, where he has made a name for himself. For most Simba fans, Onyango is not your ordinary player.
The Kenyan goes by several nick names. In Nairobi and the towns beyond, he’s referred to as the ‘Berlin Wall’, while for most Simba fans, he is a “half human, half stone” (nusu mtu, nusu jiwe) due to his solid performance at the back.
Down in South Africa is another player that has stolen the hearts of most Kenyan fans, Teddy Akumu, the Kaizer Chiefs midfielder-turned-defender.
So when Chiefs meet Simba, the undisputed kings of East Africna football, the match is expected to attract a following beyond Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam.
With no Kenyan team in the run for the title after Gor Mahia were knocked out of the competition at the group stages, Kenyan fans will definitely take sides considering that both players have turned out for K’Ogalo before.
This is the closest Simba have ever come to winning this title. They know that just two more victories and they might once again play Ah Ahly if the Egyptians giants and defending champions overcome Mamelodi Sundowns and win their semis either between Esperance and Belouizdad.
Simba beat Ahly who won a record ninth Caf Champions League title last season, in the first leg of the group stages and the Lions are oozing with confidence going into the match against the South African.
Another match that will be if interest to fans is the clash between Ahly and Sundowns.
It will not only be interesting to watch a club owned by CAF president Patrice Motsepe crash out of the competition or progress to the next stage, but will also be of great interest to see whether Piston Mosimane will break the hearts of fellow South Africans for the second time.
In 2020, Mosimane took a flight to Egypt and within no time, he had been named as the Ahly’s head coach. That news technically ended his eight year reign as Sundowns tactician.
Even Pitso is equally at a crossroads ahead of the much expected clash of the titans. “I love both,” the reigning Africa Club Champions League winning coach said after the draws.
Ahly beat Sundowns in the 2001 finals, but having grown too close to powers, the South African would definitely do everything to make the Africa football chief proud.
Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates will play Raja Casablanca as Pyramids on Nigeria’s Enyimba FC in the second tier-CAF Confederation Cup.
The first leg will be staged between of May 14 and 15 with the return leg running between May 21, 22 2021
Caf Champions League quarters draws
Simba vs Kaizer Chiefs
Esperance vs Beouizdad
MC Algers vs Wydad SC
Al Ahly vs Mamelodi Sundown
CAf Confederation Cup quarters draws
Orlando Pirate vs Raja Casablanca
CS Sfanxien v Kabylie
Jaaraf vs Coton Sports FC
Pyramids vs Enyimba FC
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