Title holders CS Sfaxien of Tunisia enter the African Confederation Cup this weekend and should start with a comfortable victory against Libyan visitors Al-Ahly Benghazi.
Experienced international campaigners Sfaxien became the first club to successfully defend the trophy last year with a shock away-goal triumph over Etoile Sahel in an all-Tunisia decider.
Ghanaian Agyemang Opoku scored in the final and, while he left for the richer pickings of Qatar, Sfaxien bought a top-notch replacement in Ousmaila Baba from 2008 Champions League runners-up Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon.
Tunisian clubs have won the last three editions of a competition modelled on the European UEFA Cup and with three entrants this year and the possibility of a further two, the north African country is sure to mount a strong challenge.
Like Europe, teams eliminated in the final qualifying round of the African Champions League get a second chance of glory by going into play-offs against the eight survivors from the African Confederation Cup elimination process.
Sfaxien have been enjoying a sustained good run in Africa, losing the 2006 Champions League final to a stoppage-time goal from Egyptian wizard Mohamed Aboutraika of Al-Ahly and then winning back-to-back Confederation Cup titles.
And their success is not confined to Africa as a 3-2 victory at Al-Faisaly of Jordan last week virtually guarantees the team from the south-east coastal city of Sfax a place in the more lucrative Arab Champions League semi-finals.
While Sfax enjoyed a first round bye in the Confederation Cup, Ahly had an eventful passage with a 1-0 win at Hay al-Arab of Sudan proving deceptive as they lost by the same score at home before squeezing through on penalties.
A problem in the qualifying rounds of the Confederation Cup can be the lack of big-name entrants and apart from Sfaxien, only Entente Setif of Algeria and Union Douala of Cameroon are former African title winners.
Although Setif are chasing a third consecutive Arab Champions League title, their sole African success came 21 years ago when they outclassed Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland) of Nigeria in the Champions Cup final.
Union achieved glory even further back, winning the 1979 Champions Cup and 1981 Cup Winners Cup, one of two competitions scrapped five years ago to make way for the Confederation Cup.
Entente also face Libyan opposition and first-time African competitors Khaleej Sirt will have home advantage first, and a 6-0 aggregate win over Prisons of Tanzania suggests they are unlikely to be a pushover.
Douala also start with an away assignment, visiting dusty N’Djamena in neighbouring Chad to face Tourbillon, who thrashed Burundians Vital’O 4-0 at the same venue last month.
Return matches are scheduled for the first weekend in April with 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifiers giving clubs a three-week break between first and second-leg fixtures instead of the traditional two. — Sapa-AFP