Struggling Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs will begin their CAF Champions League campaign with a tough tie against Cameroon side PWD Bamenda this weekend.
Chiefs will fly to Cameroon via Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) on Thursday evening and will be in Douala, Cameroon on Friday morning, before making the 77km journey to the South Western coastal town of Limbe, where the first leg will take place on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 16:00 SA time.
But who are PWD Bamenda?
Formed in 1962, the club are sponsored by the national Public Works Department and were surprise champions in the 2019/20 campaign after the league couldn’t be completed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
HARDLY CONVINCING BUT THEY MADE HISTORY
It was a controversial decision, with Bamenda holding a slender one-point lead over Cotonsport and two-point margin over Colombe with six rounds left to play.
It was hardly a convincing success as Bamenda had won just 13 of their 28 league games to that point, but nonetheless they made history with their first ever league title.
That was all the way back in March and the team have not played a competitive match since, which will give Chiefs a potentially decisive edge despite their own poor form in the DStv Premiership.
Amakhosi are down in 11th place in the DStv Premiership after a woeful start to their league campaign having lost two, drawn two and won just one match to date.
Giving Gavin Hunt’s men even more hope is the fact that Bamenda won’t be using their usual home ground for the match in the far north of the country.
This is the sixth time Chiefs will feature in the CAF Champions League with their first participation coming back in 1993.
The return second leg will be played on the weekend of December 4-6 (expected to be Friday, December 4) at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
The winner of the second-leg tie will face Angolan side Primero De Agosto over two legs and the winner of that clash will move onto the group stages with 15 other teams.
