Barker Praises South African Teams’ CAF Success

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has lauded the impressive performances of South African teams in this season’s CAF competitions.

His comments came after Stellenbosch advanced to the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup, while Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates secured their places in the CAF Champions League semi-finals.

This marks a historic achievement for South African football, with all three participating teams reaching the semi-final stage. Barker highlighted this success as a testament to the growth of South African football, particularly given Bafana Bafana’s recent positive performances.

“I think we’ve shown that we’ve grown a lot in a very short space of time,” Barker said.

“We know we won a cup [Carling Knockout ] in our domestic league last season, and this season we were in the final of MTN8 Cup. We often played against teams like Orlando Pirates and Sundowns, and we’ve held our own.

“Pirates and Sundowns are also through, and that shows that South African football is strong. Our national team is doing well at AFCON, and we may qualify for the World Cup.

“I think it’s healthy, and it’s good that there are certain regions that can try and compete against the giants of African football, which is North African.

“So, we are very proud of what we are doing, and we are looking forward to the game against Simba.”

Regarding their upcoming Confederation Cup semi-final against Simba, Barker revealed he had initially anticipated facing Al Masry rather than Fadlu Davids’ Simba.

“I was convinced that we would be back here in two weeks, but I see Simba won,” he said.