Al Hilal are confident of victory over Cotonsport Garoua

Al-Hilal coach Ricardo Ferreira has boasted that the Sudanese club can reach the Champions League final this year for the first time.

The Brazilian was speaking ahead of a crucial Group B third round clash with Cameroon visitors Cotonsport Garoua on Friday in their Omdurman fortress.

"I have no doubt we will reach the final this year because my players have attained a new level of professionalism," Ferreira said.

"They are maturing all the time," added the man who has been in charge for four years.

The most successful Sudanese club in Africa reached the semi-finals last year before falling to eventual champions Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia after a seven-goal, two-leg thriller.

Ferreira is convinced Hilal can go further after following up a 3-2 home win over group favourites Enyimba of Nigeria by forcing a 0-0 draw with TP Mazembe in the DR Congo two weeks ago.

"We played well in the Congo due to good defensive organisation which never gave our opponents a chance to threaten us.

TP Mazembe would not have scored had the match lasted two days."

Hilal have been formidable for many years before capacity 35,000 crowds in the sauna-like conditions of Omdurman, but consistently struggled away from their partisan supporters.

Group debutants Cotonsport lost French coach Denis Lavagne after snatching a injury-time home win over TP Mazembe and were outplayed by Enyimba in their first away assignment.

Former champions Enyimba host bottom-of-the-table TP Mazembe in the south-east town of Aba on Sunday and will be expected to collect maximum points over rivals who have failed to score in two group outings.

This fixture brings together two of the deadliest strikers in Africa with Stephen Worgu having struck 11 Champions League goals this year while Mputu Mabi of Mazembe was the leading scorer with nine last year.

Cairo stages both Group A fixtures with Zamalek facing Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast on Saturday while title favourites Al Ahly tackle surprise packets Dynamos of Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Zamalek, who share with bitter rivals Ahly the record of five Champions League triumphs, failed to impress when losing to their fellow Egyptians and edging Dynamos.

But they have three points, two more than a raw Asec team that lost away to Dynamos and dominated Ahly in Abidjan without breaking the deadlock to leave themselves playing catch up just two rounds into the pool phase.

"This is a match we must win," admitted Reiner Hollman, the German coach charged with bringing the glory days back to Zamalek after four years in the domestic and international shadow of Ahly.

Dynamos stunned Etoile in the final qualifying round and had their chances when losing 1-0 against Zamalek, but will be underdogs against an Ahly team that is virtually invincible at the Cairo Stadium.