Mamelodi Sundowns © Gallo Images
Mamelodi Sundowns will be the latest South African side to face a CAF club competition semifinal when they take on Wydad Casablanca in the first leg of their tie on Saturday, the same opponents who beat them at this stage four years ago.
It will be a tough assignment, but history, generally, is on the side of The Brazilians with South African clubs having traditionally fared well in the semifinals of continental competitions.
Teams from the PSL have won nine of the 13 semifinal ties they have contested down the years, including in each of the last two seasons.
Kaizer Chiefs won a Champions League semifinal against Wydad in 2020/21, while Orlando Pirates advanced past the Last 4 of the Confederation Cup last term as they ousted Al Ahly Tripoli from Libya.
It is a very good conversion rate for South African clubs showing, generally, when they get to semifinals, they make it count.
Pirates have been to the most with six – three in the Champions League (W2 L1), two in the Confederation Cup (W2) and one in the now defunct CAF Cup Winners’ Cup (L1).
All three of Mamelodi Sundowns’ previous continental semifinals have been in the Champions League as they squeezed past Petro Atletico of Angola 5-3 on penalties (2001) and defeated ZESCO United from Zambia 3-2 on aggregate (2016) when they went on to lift the trophy.
But more recently they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Moroccan nemesis Wydad.
Kaizer Chiefs have been involved in two CAF semifinals and won them both. They beat Club African from Tunisia 3-0 on aggregate in the 2001 Cup Winners Cup, and just last season stunned Wydad with a 1-0 aggregate success.
Only two other South African sides have played a continental semifinal, the first being Jomo Cosmos in the inaugural season of competition for teams from the country in 1993.
They reached the Last 4 of the Cup Winners Cup but following a 1-1 home draw, were thumped 4-0 in Abidjan by Africa Sports. The thought that they are now be playing in the third-tier of South African football will be painful for fans given how they once came close to a continental final.
The fifth team to reach a semifinal is SuperSport United, who beat Club African 4-2 on aggregate in the Last 4 of the Confederation Cup in 2017, but lost out to TP Mazembe in the decider.
SA TEAMS IN CONTINENTAL SEMIFINALS
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Orlando Pirates
1995: v Express (Uganda) 1-0 (h); 1-1 (a)
2006: v CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) 0-0 (h); 0-1 (a)
2013: v Esperance (Tunisia) 0-0 (h); 1-1 (a)
Mamelodi Sundowns
2001: v Petro Atletico (Angola) 2-0 (h); 0-2 (a) – won 5-3 on pens
2016: v ZESCO United (Zambia) 1-2 (a); 2-0 (h)
2018/19: v Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) 1-2 (a); 0-0 (h)
Kaizer Chiefs
2020/21: vs Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) 1-0 (a); 0-0 (h)
CAF CONFEDERATION CUP
Orlando Pirates
2015: v Al Ahly (Egypt) 1-0 (h); 4-3 (a)
2021/22: v Al Ahly Tripoli (Libya) 2-0 (a); 0-1 (h)
SuperSport United
2017: v Club African (Tunisia) 1-1 (h); 3-1 (a)
CAF CUP WINNERS’ CUP
Jomo Cosmos
1993: v Africa Sports (Cote d’Ivoire) 1-1 (h); 0-4 (a)
Orlando Pirates
1999: v Africa Sports (Cote d’Ivoire) 1-3 (a); 3-1 (h) – lost 0-3 on pens
Kaizer Chiefs
2001: v Club Africain (Tunisia) 2-0 (h); 1-0 (a)