Mutebi targets group phase after drawing Angolan side
KCCA coach Mutebi (L) will need his senior players including marauding left-back Joseph Ochaya (R) at their best during the Caf Champions League. Photo I. Kezaala
Kampala- For a team that harbours ambitions of reaching the Caf Champions’ League group stages, KCCA coach Mike Mutebi described yesterday’s draw against Angolan club Primeiro de Agosto as fair.
“Our target is to reach the group stages.
So we must be ready to face all the challenges that we come across,” Mutebi said of the secretive draw held at Caf headquarters in Cairo.
The Angolan side though has a slightly better history than their Ugandan counterparts having reached the lucrative quarterfinal stage in 2009.
“I think we have enough in our armoury to progress,” Mutebi said of his team that also narrowly missed out on that quarterfinal stage in 2009. KCCA will host the first leg on the weekend starting February10–12 while the second leg will be played a week later February17–19 2017.
“African football has changed a bit, the officiating has impressed a bit so even if we play the second leg away it might not count for long,” added Mutebi.
With CAF having cut the two-leg qualifying phase from three rounds to two and doubled the number of qualifiers for the mini-leagues from eight to 16 a tougher fixture however awaits the Ugandan champions.
Should they progress from the preliminary round that includes 44 other teams, KCCA will face off with Dennis Onyango’s Mamelodi Sundowns, the South African club who are the reigning champions.
A huge incentive for KCCA and the rest of the 2017 field is increased financial rewards in a new format with first prize increasing by 66.6 percent to $2.5 million.
The runners-up will receive $1.25 million, semi-finalists $875,000, quarter-finalists $650,000 and the eight group qualifiers who fail to make the knockout stage $550,000 each.
Villa are the most successful Ugandan club having reached the finals when the competition was still referred to as the African Cup of Champions Cup.
Uganda’s other representatives Vipers were meanwhile drawn against Volcan Club from Comoros in the preliminary round of the Caf Confederations Cup.
The winner of that tie will then faceoff with either South Africa’s Platinum Stars or União Desportiva do Songo from Mozambique.
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Preliminary Round
KCCA vs. Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)
Caf Confederations Cup
Preliminary round
Vipers vs. Volcan Club (Comoros)
