B. OdhiamboTop dogs square off in African Football League semifinal
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Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 29.10.23. | 10:05
The winners of the African Football League will receive prize money of $4 Million. The runner-up will get $3 Million
Following the culmination of the opening round of the African Football League, that also served as the last eight of the new competition in the continent, the stage is now set for Africa’s best four clubs to jostle for a place in the final with the last four matches set for Sunday.
Reigning 11-time African champions Al Ahly of Egypt, Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club, Tunisia’s Espérance de Tunis, and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns have all confirmed their place in the semi-finals, in which the champions take home a record $4 million winner’s prize.
Ahly got to the last four by virtue of goal aggregate, getting the better part of Simba over two legs staged in Tanzania and Egypt in a tie that ended in a culminating 3-3 draw.
Esperance beat DR Congo’s TP Mazembe, South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns were too strong for Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, and Moroccan giants Wydad AC were just too strong for Nigeria’s Enyimba as they booked the last spot in the semifinals.
North African giants Wydad and Esperance face each other in a titanic semifinal battle in the first of two legs on Sunday, October 29 at the State Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca, Morocco, at 7.00 PM EAT.
Wydad heads into the match with an impressive form that has seen the Morocco heavyweights extend their unbeaten run to nine matches, having won five of their previous games in all competitions.
In the other semifinal clash, Mamelodi Sundowns renew what has become one of African football’s biggest rivalries against Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
The first leg will be played at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday, October 29, in South Africa, while the return fixture will take place at the Cairo International Stadium on November 1.
Despite not tasting defeat in their previous seven games across all competitions, the Egyptian giants Al Ahly are not fond of this match-up as they have failed to win in their five encounters against the Rulani Mokwena-coached Sundowns.
The Marcel Koller instructed Ahly's last victory over the Sundowns, dates back to May 2021, when goals from Salah Mohsen and Taher Mohamed handed them an edge over the bitter rivals in the Quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League.
The winners of the African Football League will receive prize money of $4 Million. The runner-up will get $3 Million.
The two semi-finalists will each get $1.7 Million while the quarter-finalists will each get $ 1 million.
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