Mazembe fans celebrated their 2009 victory with a trip to the Club World Cup

Title-holders TP Mazembe from DR Congo and Tunisia's Esperance meet in the first leg of the final in Lubumbashi on Sunday 31 October. The match will be played on an artificial pitch at the 35,000-capacity Kenya Stadium in southern DR Congo.

The return leg will take place on the outskirts of Tunis at the 65,000-seater Rades Stadium on 13 November.

The pride of being rated Africa's best football club aside, the winners will receive US$1.5 million and play Mexican outfit Pachuca in December's Fifa Club World Cup. The losers walk away with a cheque for one million dollars.

The two finalists have already met in this year's competition as they played home and away ties in the group stages.

The teams first met in Lubumbashi in August, where Mazembe won 2-1 thanks to goals from Alain Kaluyituka and Ngandu Kasongo. Nigerian striker Michael Eneramo replied for the visitors. In Tunis a fortnight later, Esperance gained revenge in ample fashion, winning 3-0 after a brace from Eneramo and a goal from defender Walid Hicheri.

Esperance eventually topped a group including Algeria's Entente Setif and Zimbabwe's Dynamos with 13 points, two ahead of TP Mazembe.

This is the fourth time Esperance have managed to reach the final. Since winning their inaugural title in 1994, beating Egypt's Zamalek in the final, the Tunis club has only known failure. In both 1999 and 2000, their trips to the final ended in disappointment - first losing on penalties to Morocco's Raja Casablanca and then going down to Ghanaians Hearts of Oak.

This will be Mazembe's sixth appearance in Africa's premier club final. They have won the competition on three separate occasions. Under former name TP Englebert, named after the tyre company which bankrolled them, the Congolese triumphed in 1967. Twelve months later, they became the first team to retain the trophy before losing consecutive finals in 1969 and 1970. The Lubumbashi side had to wait until last year before winning the title again, edging Heartland of Nigeria on away goals.

Mazembe will be the first club to twice successfully defend title if they succeed. An Esperance triumph means they will overtake local rivals Club Africain and Etoile Sahel by becoming the first Tunisian club to capture the trophy twice.

Dioko Kaluyituka (Mazembe):

Mazembe's leading scorer has netted six goals this campaign and his finishing skills have become increasingly crucial since the mid-year suspension of former captain and talisman Tresor Mputu.

Michael Eneramo (Esperance):

The Nigerian leads the Champions League scoring charts with eight goals, although team-mates Wajdi Bouazzi and Oussama Darragi have also weighed in with five apiece. Eneramo scored the decisive goal in the semi-finals against Ahly even though he clearly used his arm to score.

Lamine Ndiaye (Mazembe): The former Senegal national coach was promoted from technical director when last year's Champions League winner Diego Garzitto left after the group stage drubbing by Esperance. He has since tightened up the defence, with Mazembe having shut out their opponents in their last two away matches - both in North Africa.

Faouzi Benzarti (Esperance): The coach is hoping for an African Champions League 'double' after guiding Esperance to their only previous title 16 years ago. Concentrated on 'Blood and Gold' after failing to guide Tunisia's Carthage Eagles beyond the first round at January's Nations Cup in Angola.

Multisports club Esperance, nicknamed the 'Blood and Golds', turned 91 this year having been formed in 1919.

Mazembe, popularly known as the 'Crows', are 20 years their junior, having been founded by Benedictine monks in 1939.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version