Thursday, and the passports are out. Welcome to the Fluit’s Five CAF weekend edition: three South African clubs, three countries, one weekend of African football, and a Proteas coach who has run out of polite words. Kick-off times are still moving around, so today we stick to what is confirmed.
1. The Big One: the Fluit’s Five CAF weekend, everyone on the road
Here is the shape of it. Orlando Pirates face African Stars, the Namibian champions, in Gaborone on Saturday in the CAF Champions League second preliminary round. Kaizer Chiefs are in Ndola, Zambia, the same afternoon, away to Red Arrows in the Confederation Cup, and Zambian and South African reports agree on the date. Mamelodi Sundowns close the weekend in Angola on Sunday against Wiliete.
Three first legs, three away days, and all three clubs come home for the second legs. That is the angle worth holding on to. Nobody wins a tie on the first weekend, but anybody can lose one. Bring back a draw, or even a narrow defeat with an away goal, and the job is half done. Our explainer on how the preliminary rounds work has the rules.
2. The Matchday Move: a home game in somebody else’s country
Pirates’ trip is stranger than it looks. African Stars are at home on Saturday, just not in Namibia. The country has no stadium approved by CAF for the competition, so the Stars chose the National Stadium in Gaborone instead, Botswana’s state news agency BOPA reports.
Briefly News reports that Pirates had been expected to play both legs in South Africa. Instead they get a third country and a crowd nobody can predict. One more thing: the reports we have seen disagree on the kick-off time, so we are not printing one until it is confirmed. Everything on the Buccaneers.
3. The Talking Point: Conrad wants better, from whom?
The Proteas coach did not dress up Kingsmead. After the 214-run defeat, Shukri Conrad said, “We just need to get bloody better,” while insisting the result was no catastrophe, IOL reports. He would not confirm changes for St George’s Park, would not rule them out, and made it clear nobody’s place is safe.
Our view: the message is right, and it is time to be specific. The top order keeps getting in and getting out, and the team leans on Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and the lower order for runs. If changes are coming, name the problem first and pick for it. The second Test starts on Sunday. Our Beyond the Score on the top order.
4. The Stat That Matters: one point
That is all that separates the top two. Sundowns lead on 23 points from nine games, still unbeaten, and Pirates are second on 22 from eight, according to TimesLIVE and The Athlete. The Buccaneers have played a game fewer.
Why it matters this weekend: neither side plays a league match, because both are in Africa. But the title race travels with them. A bad first leg means a must-win return the following week, with league fixtures still to fit around it, and in a race this tight a tired squad drops points. The night Pirates closed the gap on Galaxy.
5. The One to Watch: Fawaaz Basadien
He started at left-back at Richards Bay on Tuesday night and scored his first goal for Sundowns, the fourth in a 4-1 win, around the hour. Aubrey Modiba, who started the MTN8 final, was not in the matchday squad.
So who plays left-back in Angola? Watch the team sheet on Sunday. A goal never guarantees a shirt at Sundowns, but it makes a loud argument, and an away first leg is exactly where a full-back’s defending matters more than his finishing. Our Richards Bay v Sundowns report.
So, for the braai: Gaborone, Ndola or Angola, which South African side brings home the best first-leg result? Pick one, and tell us why.