Stellies Hyped Up For Their Confed Cup Opener
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has expressed happiness ahead of their Confederation Cup first-round opener against Eswatini’s Nsingizini Hotspurs at Moses Mabhida Stadium on the 16th of August.
Stellenbosch, who are joined by Sekhukhune in the Confed Cup, will feature in this tournament for the first time in the club’s history after finishing third last term, narrowly missing out on the second position by goal difference.
Barker highlighted a positive buzz across the football club, underscoring great appetite for their first game of the competition.
“I’m extremely excited, not only personally, I think the whole football club, the players and everyone involved. We know we want to be competing on the content, you want to be exposing yourself to different teams, you want to be competing at that level,” said Barker.
“We worked hard to get ourselves in this position. We have dreamt of playing on the continent one day, so that day has arrived, massive excitement, a lot of buzz around the club, looking forward to that first game ever in African football,” added the coach.
Since Eswatini lacks CAF/FIFA-approved venues, Hotspurs opted for the 2010 World Cup venue in South Africa. While this is a vantage point for Stellenbosch, who hold positive memories of winning the Carling Knockout trophy there last year, Barker is very cognizant of the danger their opponents could bring.
“It’s nice that we’ve played in Moses Mabhida, we know Durban well, we know the stadium well, it does in a sense help, but they have also worked hard, they will have the same sentiment as we have,” Barker cautioned.
“They have put on a whole season to be in this position, they seem like a very ambitious team. They have camped in South Africa, played at Moses, and shown that they are serious if you look at their log position and the way they played last season. They are not an easy team to beat, they conceded some of the fewest goals in the league. Everybody wants to advance in those continental competitions, so we can’t be complacent,” he added.
For Stellenbosch, a win in their opening game would spell a great continuum to their upward trajectory after their convincing win in the MTN8 against TS Galaxy.
However, advancing further in the tournament could mean a packed schedule for them which would test their resilience and squad depth, as highlighted by the club’s CEO Rob Benadie.
“That will be like our first big test for us into Africa – flying back to play on a Tuesday and playing on a Friday in the PSL. We will be tested,” said Benadie.
