Draw made for maiden Women's African Champions League
- Published
The coach of South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies says his side is ready to 'conquer Africa'
The draw for the first Women's African Champions League, which will be held in Cairo in November, has taken place in the Egyptian capital.
Hosts Wadi Degla were placed in Group A with AS Mande (Mali), Malabo Kings (Equatorial Guinea) and Hasaacas Ladies (Ghana).
Group B brings together ASFAR (Morocco), Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (South Africa), Rivers Angels (Nigeria) and Vihiga Queens (Kenya).
"We are ready to go to Egypt and conquer Africa," rallied Sundowns coach Jerry Tshabalala. "If one wants to be a champion, you will need to play against strong opponents. We find ourselves in a very tough but exciting group."
Tshabalala said he was able to watch both Queens and Angels during the qualifiers, leaving Moroccans ASFAR as an unknown quantity.
"The only closed book is ASFAR - we will we need to go out there and find out how they play, how they apply themselves," he told Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sport Africa. "We are doing our homework and looking forward to representing South Africa."
The line-up for the maiden finals was decided after Malabo Kings of Equatorial Guinea clinched the last place earlier this month, with all the teams bar hosts Wadi Degla qualifying through regional events.
Rivers Angels, Hasaacas Ladies and AS Mande made it through from west Africa, ASFAR from the north, Malabo Kings from the central area while Sundowns Ladies and Vihiga Queens from the south and east respectively.
Wadi Degla striker Marihan Yehia was delighted with the draw, labelling it 'good' for her team's chances of advancing.
"Hasaacas are very good and are one of the clubs expected to go to the next stage," she told Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sport Africa. "Group B is more difficult than our group, which is a chance for us to go beyond the group stage."
Queens captain Enez Mango agreed that not only is Group B 'very competitive' but that learning about opponents ahead of a new competition is difficult.
"We've been watching our opponents mostly during national team assignments because most players play in their national team but also during their qualifying matches in their zones," she told Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sport Africa.
"There's going to be a challenge [knowing your opponent] but we are up to the task."
The inaugural tournament will be played between 5 and 19 November.