Stellenbosch FC tactician Steve Barker has spoken about the all-South African coaching clash in the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final against Fadlu Davids’ Simba SC.
Barker’s troops will travel to Zanzibar to take on Simba, coached by Davids, in the CAF Confed Cup semi-final first-leg. The match is set for Sunday, April 20th at the New Amaan Complex, kicking off at 15:00 SA time.
The Cape Winelands-based outfit advanced to the semi-finals after a 1-0 win on aggregate against Egyptian giants, Zamalek.
As a result, Stellenbosch became the second PSL club to reach the Confed Cup semi-finals in their CAF inter-club debut season after Marumo Gallants in the 2022/23 campaign.
Meanwhile, the Davids-coached side beat Egypt’s Al Masry 4-1 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 aggregate tie to progress to the tournament’s semi-finals.
WHAT STEVE BARKER SAID ABOUT GOING HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH FADLU DAVIDS
Barker welcomed the semi-final matchup against Davids, noting their prior coaching battles from when the Simba mentor was at Durban City FC [then Maritzburg United].
He added that having an SA coach in this year’s final of the CAF Confederation Cup makes the clash even more special.
“It’s very nice to come up against Fadlu [Davids]. I played against him as a coach when he was coaching at Maritzburg United,” said Barker.
“So, it is nice that there will be a South African coach in the final. I’m looking forward to that. We know Darian [Wilken], the assistant, very well. He is a good friend of my assistant, Wesley [Sergel]. So, it would be nice to see them.
“I think this season I have shown over a long period of time that we have travelled a lot and we haven’t had time to deal with certain situations. But I think we are well prepared, and we have come this far in this tournament as we always promised ourselves that if we get to the semi-finals, then we might as well go all the way to the finals.”
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