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24 January 2020
Aside from the glory of lifting the Nedbank Cup trophy, this year's winners will also have the honour of representing South Africa in the 2020-21 CAF Confederation Cup. Many South African clubs have grasped this opportunity in the past, not least SuperSport United, who made it all the way to the final the continental competition in 2017. Here is a wrap of how the teams have fared over the years since Nedbank started their sponsorship of the country¹s elite knockout competition in 2008.
2009 MAMELODI SUNDOWNS
Sundowns had a bye through the first round before a handsome 9-1 aggregate success over Mauritian side AS Vacoas-Phoenix. They came up against top DR Congo side AS Vita Club after that and following a 2-2 draw at home, lost 1-0 in Kinshasa.
2010 MOROKA SWALLOWS
Swallows defeated Mauritian side Pamplemousse SC in the first round after comfortable 2-1 and 3-0 successes, but came unstuck against CAPS United in the second stage, drawing 1-1 away but then losing 1-0 at home.
2011 BIDVEST WITS
For the third year running the Nedbank Cup champions were ousted in the second round as Wits defeated St Marienne from Reunion 4-1 on aggregate, despite a surprise 1-0 defeat away from home. They then lost to Madagascan side AS Adema in the second round, following a 1-1 draw at home and a 2-0 loss away.
2012 BLACK LEOPARDS
Leopards took their place in the competition as Nedbank Cup winners Orlando Pirates, who beat Lidoda Duvha 3-1 in the final, also qualified for the Champions League competition. And what a ride it was for the Limpopo side! They defeated Zimbabwean side Motor Action in the first round 3-1 in aggregate, before coming through a tough second round tie with DR Congo side St Eloi Lupopo 6-4. When they lost 3-1 away at Nigerian side Warri Wolves, it appeared their run was over, but they claimed a 2-0 success in the home leg and advanced on the away goals rule. That set up a meeting with top Sudanese side, where they lost 3-2 away, and were held to a 0-0 draw at home to end their group phase dreams.
2013 SUPERSPORT UNITED
United edged DR Congo side Don Bosco 4-3 on aggregate in the first round and then got the better of Angolan side Petro Atletico 2-0. But they came unstuck against Egyptian outfit ENPPI with a 3-1 aggregate loss.
2014 SUPERSPORT UNITED
United were back again despite their 1-0 Nedbank Cup final loss to Kaizer Chiefs as the letter entered the Champions League competition. Matsatsantsa ousted Gaborone United from Botswana in the first round 3-0 on aggregate, before beating AFC Leopards from Kenya 4-2. That set up a meeting with Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel, which the North Africans won 5-1 on aggregate.
2015 ORLANDO PIRATES
Pirates came ever so close to lifting the Confederation Cup trophy but suffered a 2-1 aggregate loss to Etoile du Sahel in the final. They beat Uganda Revenue Authority (4-3 on aggregate), FC Mounana from Gabon (5-2) and AS Kaloum from Guinea (6-1) to reach the pool stages. They started with a 1-0 win over AC Leopards from Congo-Brazzaville, before a 2-1 loss to Egypt¹s Zamalek set them back. However, back-to-back wins over CS Sfaxien (1-0 and 2-0) got their campaign back on track and when they defeated Leopards 2-0 had booked their semifinal spot and could afford a 4-1 loss to Zamalek in their final pool match. Pirates then claimed 1-0 and 4-3 successes over Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the semifinals, before falling at the final hurdle against the Tunisians.
2016 AJAX CAPE TOWN
Ajax competed in the competition as Nedbank Cup champions Mamelodi Sundowns took part in the Champions League, which they would ultimately go on and win. But Ajax fell at the first hurdle despite gaining an excellent 2-1 away win at Angolan side Sagrada Esperanca. They lost the home leg 2-0 and were beaten on aggregate.
2017 SUPERSPORT UNITED
SuperSport took their place by virtue of winning the Nedbank Cup in 2016 and did not disappoint, playing a massive 18 games in the competition as they made it all the way through to the final. They would end as unlucky 2-1 losers to DR Congo side TP Mazembe in the final despite dominating large parts of both legs. Striker Jeremy Brockie finished as top scorer in the Confederation Cup with 10 goals.
2018 SUPERSPORT UNITED
SuperSport returned to the Confederation Cup by virtue of their back-to-back Nedbank Cup wins, again claiming the 2017 title by beating Orlando Pirates once more. Having made the final the year before, they found the going tougher this time round, but beat Petro Atletico 2-1 on aggregate in the first round. That set up a play-off clash with Kenyan side Gor Mahia, but after a 2-2 aggregate draw, Matsatsantsa bowed out on the away goals rule.
2018-19 FREE STATE STARS
A change in the timing of the Confederation Cup saw it move from the traditional February-November to August-May. Free State Stars were South Africa’s representatives after they beat Maritzburg United 1-0 in the 2018 Nedbank Cup decider. Their adventure would not last long though as they were drawn with Rwandan side Mukura Victory Sports. A 0-0 home draw was followed by a 1-0 away defeat in East Africa.
2019-20 TS GALAXY
TS Galaxy made history by becoming the first second-tier side to lift the Nedbank Cup when they defeated Kaizer Chiefs in the 2019 decider. The club were barely a year old then, but now had the challenge of taking their brand onto the African continent as well. They started with a pair of 1-0 wins over Seychelles side Saint Louis Suns United, and followed that up with a superb 4-1 aggregate win over CNaPS Sport from Madagascar, again both ties resulting in wins. That set up a play-off clash with Nigerian giants Enyimba and it proved a bridge too far as Galaxy last 4-1 on aggregate.
*The views represented are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of Nedbank.