Tinkler just needs to make a call to Mosimane for the scoop on Zesco

11 July 2017 - 11:53 By Mark Gleeson
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SuperSport United head coach Eric Tinkler sitting in the stands during the CAF Confederation Cup match against CF Mounana at Lucas Moripe Stadium on July 08, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa.
SuperSport United head coach Eric Tinkler sitting in the stands during the CAF Confederation Cup match against CF Mounana at Lucas Moripe Stadium on July 08, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images

Eric Tinkler need only make a call to colleague Pitso Mosimane for a thorough rundown on SuperSport United’s next African opponents‚ but the Mamelodi Sundowns boss is on his own preparing for the quarterfinals of the Caf Champions League.

The two Pretoria Premier Soccer League clubs will play in September in the last-eight of the Champions League and Caf Confederation Cup respectively and have around six weeks to study all they need to know about their opponents.

Sundowns‚ as runners-up in Group C‚ play at home on September 9 in the first leg of their quarterfinal against Wydad Casablanca with the return match in Morocco a week later.

Wydad finished top of Group D‚ ahead of record winners Al Ahly of Egypt‚ but needed a narrow 1-0 home win in their last group game to make sure they went through at the expense of Zambia’s Zanaco.

Wydad qualified for this year’s Champions League after finishing Moroccan league runners-up in the 2015-16 season.

But this May they took the title in convincing fashion‚ winning by a margin of seven points.

But the club did change coaches halfway through the campaign‚ firing Frenchman Sebastien Desabre and installing Moroccan Lhoussaine Ammouta‚ who took them onto the title.

They have lost two key strikers in the last weeks with Liberian William Jebor and Fabrice Ondama‚ a 29-year-old Congolese international‚ moving.

Jebor is now in Saudi Arabia while Ondama announced he would not be accepting the offer of a new contract and is said to be on his way to a club in ether Egypt or Turkey.

SuperSport must also play at home in the first leg of their Confed quarterfinal tie against the Zambians‚ who Sundowns beat in last year’s Champions League semifinals.

It was a close-fought affair as Sundowns only secured their passage to the final by the narrowest of margins (3-2 on aggregate) and Mosimane will be able to offer SuperSport’s new coach plenty of advice.

United are also at home in the first leg‚ likely to be on September 10‚ and then away in Ndola a week later.

It is an easy trip to mid-Africa for SuperSport‚ unlike the lengthy journey that Sundowns will need to undertake to the north.

Zesco are in mid-season in Zambia and if they win their catch-up game can go to the top of the table.

Their Serbian coach Zlatko Krmpotic told reporters in Zambia at the weekend he felt SuperSport were beatable.

- TimesLIVE

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