Connect with us

CAF Champions League

BEHOLD! THOSE TO DETERMINE ENYIMBA AND OTHERS’ FATE

Published

on

Former DR Congo forward Shabani Nonda and former Cote d’Ivoire defender Didier Zokora will assist the draw for the knockout stages of the CAF Champions League 2019/20 and CAF Confederation Cup 2019/20 later this Wednesday evening in Cairo, Egypt.

 

The duo will join CAF Director of Competitions, Nigeria’s Samson Adamu for the draw featuring the surviving eight teams from the two competitions for the next phase.

Nonda, 42, is widely regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. A member of the DR Congo squad that featured at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali, he is fondly remembered for his stints with French side Monaco between 2005 and 2005. He also starred for Stade Rennais (France), Roma (Italy), Blackburn Rovers (England) and Galatasaray (Turkey).

Having made over 120 appearances for Cote d’Ivoire, Zokora is fondly called ‘Maestro’.

A product of the globally renowned ASEC Mimosas Academy, the defensive midfielder participated in six Africa Cup of Nations (2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013), reaching the final in 2006 and 2012. Zokora was a member of Les Elephants squad that qualified for their maiden FIFA World Cup in 2006 in Germany, replicating the feat in 2010 (South Africa) and 2014 (Brazil).

Advertisement

He enjoyed an illustrious playing career donning the shirts of the like of Racing Genk (Belgium), Saint-Etienne (France), Tottenham Hotspurs (England), Sevilla (Spain), Trabzonspor (Turkey), Pune City (India) amongst others. He retired in 2017 after a short stint with Indonesian side Semen Padang.

The qualified teams for the CAF Champions League are Al Ahly, Zamalek (Egypt), Wydad Athletic Club, Raja Club Athletic (Morocco), Esperance, Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).

For the CAF Confederation Cup, the octet for the knockout stage include Pyramids, Al Masry (Egypt), RS Berkane, Hassania Agadir (Morocco), Horoya (Guinea), Zanaco (Zambia), Al Nasr (Libya) and Enyimba (Nigeria).

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement