Skip to main content

World Cup glory beckons for Pirates

Aiming high. . . Orlando Pirates sextet of Oupa Manyisa, Thabo Matlaba, Happy Jele, Rooi Mahamutsa, Sfiso Myeni and Andile Jali will be most glad to play in the Fifa Club World Cup in December. 

ONE crucial factor the soccer public in South Africa is overlooking about Orlando Pirates' potential success in the CAF Champions League is that the reward is bigger than the $1.5million (R15m) first prize, or the much-vaunted "Second Star". The ultimate prize however for Pirates winning the Africa championship will be the chance to play in the Fifa Club World Cup in December.

The Fifa tournament is the lofty heights of club football. It was not existant in 1995 when Pirates were crowned Africa champion. After a modest beginnings in 2000 in Brazil, today the Fifa Club World Cup is a prestigeous one-week tournament offering big financial rewards to the qualifying continental champions. The top prize comes at a hefty $5 million, but even finishing last - seventh - is not shabby: $500 000 for just one lost game!

To date only one club from sub-Saharan Africa has played in the Fifa tournament, TP Mazembe of DR Congo, twice in 2009 and 2010. All the other occasions Africa had been represented by clubs from the Arab north, who have dominated Africa's club championship  for decades.

Al Ahly, 2013 Champions League finalists against Pirates, played in the 2012 Fifa Club World Cup, and Esperance of Tunis a year earlier. Most of SA football fraternity had been in ignorant about this tournament as no club from these had even come close to qualifying for until now. All Pirates have to do is to overcome Al Ahly challenge and have first-time experience  of meeting top international clubs in an official match. Perhaps this will help local fans not to go overboard with excitement over PSL teams meeting visiting English clubs in their pre-season kickabouts.  

Making it to the Fifa finals will open a whole new world to Orlando Pirates, something  Al Ahly has experienced four times before in this tournament. Additional attraction to the 2013 edition from the African perspective is the fact that the tournament will be hosted on the continent for the first time ever - in Morocco.

Apart from CAF, Asia is still to conclude its competition to produce a representative. But so far the line-up is delightful enough: Bayern Munich (Germany, Uefa), Monterrey (Mexico, Concacaf), Atletico Mineiro (Brazil, Conmebol) and Auckland City (New Zealand, OFC). As per tradition, the seventh team is the national champion of the host country, Raja Casablanca.
The tournament will run from December 11-21 in the cities of Marrakesh and Agadir. If they win the CAF event, Orlando Pirates will open their 2013 Fifa Club world Cup against Asian champions at the quarterfinal stage on December 14.

The prizemoney breakdown for 2013 Club World Cup is as follows:
Winner: $5m (R49m)
Runner-up: $4m
3rd Place: $2.5m
Fourth: $2m
Fifth: $1.5m
Sixth: $1m
Seventh: $0.5m (R4.9m)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zambia - just do it!

Zambia is standing on the verge of a soccer history, which was delayed for nearly 20 years. In 1993 Zambia’s team, which is strongly believed to have been one of the most formidable national teams the continent of Africa has ever produced, crashed from the air off the coast of Gabon. On that fateful day on 27 April 1993 the squad were heading to Dakar, Senegal, for a 1994 World Cup qualifier. Their plane had made a brief stop at Gabonese captial of Libreville for refueling and other technical checks, before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean on takeoff. The only survivors from that team were midfielders, Kalusha Bwalya and Charly Musonda, who were both based in Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Their circumstances for not being on the DHC-5 Buffalo plane are different. Bwalya, who at the time played for Ajax Amsterdam, had made his own arrangements to travel to Dakar, while Musonda could not travel to Lusaka to join his teammates due to injury. He was at the time playing fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Morocco vs Comoros to set tone for Afcon

African football stands on the cusp of another compelling chapter as the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in Morocco on Sunday, December 21. While the opening fixture between hosts Morocco and Comoros at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat may not immediately stir memories of classic AFCON showdowns, the tournament itself carries a weight of expectation that extends far beyond the first whistle. Morocco arrives as both host nation and one of the continent’s most formidable footballing powers. The Atlas Lions have enjoyed a golden period in recent years, highlighted by their historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and consistent dominance at youth and club levels. With a squad brimming with Europe-based stars, tactical maturity, and home support behind them, Morocco are widely tipped as favourites to lift the trophy. For many fans, AFCON 2026 represents an opportunity for the North African giants to finally translate their promise into continenta...
Post a Comment
Read more

More than football: Sudan’s Falcons fly for a broken nation in Morocco

Sudan’s improbable march into the knockout stages of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is already one of the tournament’s most powerful stories. On Saturday, January 3, in Tangier, the Falcons of Jediane face continental heavyweights Senegal in the round of 16, carrying with them not only tactical plans and match-day hopes, but the weight of a nation shattered by war yet unwilling to surrender its dreams. That Sudan even qualified for the Morocco tournament borders on the miraculous. Forced into exile by a brutal civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the national team has lived up to its falcon moniker by soaring far beyond its broken homeland to survive. Home matches were staged abroad, preparations scattered across foreign soil, including Saudi Arabia, and players lived as displaced men rather than celebrated athletes. Yet, against all odds, Sudan squeezed through Group E as one of the best third-placed teams be...
Post a Comment
Read more