Simba SC set CAF Champions League knockout target after Orlando Pirates draw

Simba SC head coach Steve Barker says his side’s objective is to reach the CAF Champions League knockout stages after being drawn against Orlando Pirates, RS Berkane and Colombe Sportive in Group C.

The group-stage draw took place on Wednesday afternoon, giving the Tanzanian club a challenging line-up of opponents.

Group C includes three-time CAF Confederation Cup champions RS Berkane, 1995 CAF Champions League winners Orlando Pirates and Cameroon newcomers Colombe Sportive.

Barker said he was familiar with RS Berkane through previous experience in the competition with Simba SC and during his time at Stellenbosch.

“It’s a tough group, some really good teams in our group,” he told Azam TV.

“I’m really familiar with RS Berkane, as Simba is with the Confed and at Stellenbosch, we also played them. So, they’re a big team from Morocco.”

The meeting with Orlando Pirates will be particularly familiar for Barker, who has faced the South African club on several occasions.

“I am excited to be playing against Orlando Pirates; I’ve always had many battles against them back in South Africa,” he said.

“They’re also a really good team, having won the Premiership in South Africa last season. So tough opponent.”

Barker also expects Colombe Sportive, who are competing in the CAF Champions League for the first time, to provide a strong test.

“And obviously whenever there is a newcomer to the Champions League in Colombe from Cameroon, they’ll also be a challenge,” he added.

The Simba SC manager acknowledged the difficulty of the group but said his team must overcome whoever they face if they are to make a deep run in the tournament.

“So yeah, it’s going to be a very challenging group for us, but if you want to reach the far end of such tournament you have to get through the group stages regardless of the opposition that you have,” Barker said.

“We have to make sure that we qualify for the knockout stages. So yeah, very excited overall and looking forward to it.”

Barker later underlined that progressing from the group was not simply an ambition but the club’s clear target.

“The target is to qualify for the knockout stages; that’s the target, 100%. Our desire is high to get ourselves into the knockout stages,” he continued.

“As much as it’s gonna be challenging, we believe that we have the quality; we believe we have the ambition as the club to go as far as possible in the tournament, so our objective is to get into the knockout stages.”

He also rejected the idea that Simba SC should prepare for the possibility of failing to progress.

“We don’t look at failing, we’re going to qualify, 100% that’s our objective,” Barker insisted.

“We gonna set our sights on, we won’t have the word not making it in our vocabulary. It’s a start of the group stages and we aim to start well, also finish strong and get ourselves into the knockout stages.”