Barker believes continental success shows the strenght of South African football

By Ayanda Nyuswa

Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker believes the progression of three South African teams into the semi finals of CAF inter-clubs competitions shows how strong South African football is at the moment. Barker led his Stellenbosch FC side to the semi finals of the CAF Confederation Cup after they upset Egyptian giants Zamalek with a 1-0 victory in Cairo, which followed a goalless first leg in Cape Town the week before. Stellies will face Fadlu David’s Simba SC in the last 4 after the Tanzanian giants needed a penalty shoot-out to beat Egypt’s Al Masry.

The Western Cape outfit has joined Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates in the semi finals of continental competitions, Masandawana overcame Tunisian giants Esperance (1-0 on aggregate) while Pirates beat Algerian side MC Alger (1-0 on aggregate) to reach the semi finals of the CAF Champions League. Sundowns will face defending champions Al Ahly in the last four, with Pirates tackling another Egyptian side in Pyramids FC.

Barker believes these achievements, coupled with Bafana Bafana’s recent success on the continent, shows how immensely South African football has grown as we are now competing regularly on the continental stage.

“We have grown enough in a short space of time, we won a cup in our domestic league last season and this season we were in the final of the MTN 8. We play often against Pirates and Sundowns and we hold our own. It does show that South African football is strong, our national team is doing well at AFCON, we may qualify for the World Cup. I think it is healthy, it is good that there’s certain regions that can try and compete against the giants of African football which is the North Africans so we are very proud of what we are doing and are looking forward to the game against Simba.”