Casablanca, Morocco – Egyptian club Pyramids finished preparations in readiness for their clash against Raja Casablanca of Morocco in the second-leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final at the Stade Mohammed V on Sunday at 9:00pm Cairo Local Time.
Raja was held to a 0-0 draw by Pyramids FC in the first-leg encounter at the Air Defence Stadium in Cairo last Sunday.
With home advantage on Sunday, the Moroccan outfit remains the likelier aggregate winners, and if they do advance is set to meet Algerian team JS Kabylie in the July 10 final in Benin.
The Egyptian side reached the Confederation Cup final last season on their maiden appearance in Africa’s secondary club competition, only to lose 1-0 to Morocco’s RS Berkane.
Kabylie, seeking a first CAF trophy since 2002, came from behind to win 2-1 away to Coton Sport in Cameroon with a Pierre Etame own-goal proving decisive.
Raja forward Ben Malango is often likened to Belgium star Romelu Lukaku — both are physically imposing, favour a direct route to goal and score consistently, AFP reported.
Democratic Republic of Congo-born ‘African Lukaku’ will be a potential match-winner as the Moroccan club try to reach the CAF Confederation Cup final for the second time in four seasons.
Malango has scored five goals and Morocco star Soufiane Rahimi four in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League and are likely to pose the greatest threats to an experienced Egyptian defence.
Morocco and Tunisia have dominated the Confederation Cup since it replaced the African Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup competitions in 2004 with clubs from the North African nations lifting the trophy five times each.
Among the title-holders from Morocco was Raja, who these seasons hope to become the first side from the kingdom to win the Confederation Cup twice.
The Green Eagles have been title favourites for several months after winning all six group matches without conceding and then sinking famed South African side Orlando Pirates without trace in the quarterfinals.
Apart from the threats posed by Malango and Rahimi, they have in Anas Zniti one of the most experienced and best goalkeepers in Africa.
Expensively assembled Pyramids has unhappy memories of visits to Morocco, losing to Raja in the group stage this season and to Renaissance Berkane in the 2020 Confederation Cup final.
Elsewhere, a Kabylie team captained by winger and leading scorer Redha Bensayah take a 10-match unbeaten Confederation Cup run into the return match against Coton in Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers.
The sole loss suffered by the Canaries in 13 African matches this season was away to demoted CAF Champions League last-32 losers Stade Malien of Mali in a playoff.
Kabylie are guided by Denis Lavagne, who wants to become the second French coach after Hubert Velud to win the competition.
Although the Cameroon national team consistently ranks among the top 10 in the continent, no club from the central African country has won a CAF competition since Union Douala 40 years ago.
Coton paid dearly for defensive blunders during the first leg in Yaounde with Narcisse Nlend largely to blame for the first Kabylie goal scored by Ahmed Kerroum.
