CAFCC: Steve Barker sets Stellenbosch FC’s target

Struggling South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) side Stellenbosch FC will kick-start their 2025-2026 CAF Confederation Cup group stage assignments on Sunday with a clear objective in mind.

Stellies coach Steve Barker has set the target beyond the group stages, not a far-fetched dream for the Betway Premiership team that sent shockwaves in the continental competition last season.

Our Group Stage campaign begins this weekend 🫡🌍

🆚 @asotoho1 🇨🇬
🏆 #TotalEnergiesCAFCC
🏟 New Peter Mokaba Stadium
📅 Sunday, 23 November
🕢 15H00
📺 @Official_SABC1 & @SABCPlus
🎟️ R40.00
🛒 Webtickets ➡️ https://t.co/rJ8MMCGs53#HeartoftheCape #MoreThanFootball… pic.twitter.com/OHX50wC6n4

— Stellenbosch FC (@StellenboschFC) November 17, 2025

The 2024-2025 Confederation Cup semi-finalists side will start its group C assignments by welcoming Congo Brazzaville opponents AS Otohô at New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday.

The Maroons share the group also with Singida Black Stars from Tanzania and Algeria’s CR Belouizdad, opposition Barker acknowledged were no walkovers.

He, nonetheless, set the target of qualifying for the knockout phase while treating each game at a time.

“Similar to last season, we’re going to take it each game and each stage at a time. We got through the preliminaries to get into the Group Stage, and before we go ahead and look at the knockouts, we have to get through this stage,” the coach told his club’s website.

“We play each team twice, home and away, so right now the objective is to finish in the top-two in our group and qualify for the knockout stage. Once we do that, we’ll take it one game at a time again.”

Barker says Stellenbosch ready for CAF  matches

Barker said his players have recharged after having a breather following earlier pile up of fixtures including in the Betway Premiership.

“It’s very exciting to get our CAF Confederation Cup campaign underway…Everybody is raring to go and we’re looking forward to hosting our opposition AS Otohô, and to getting off to a good start by winning this home match because I think that will also be key in this competition,” he added.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm, and we’ve had a good preparation period during the FIFA break. We were able to work on improving a lot of things, which we can hopefully apply this coming Sunday.”

The coach also downplayed the fact that Stellenbosch will host their match at the Limpopo venue instead of their Cape Town base, due to a lack of available stadiums

“I think travelling around last season has prepared us for it a bit this season. We do know of the challenges we sometimes have with the stadiums in Cape Town and in needing to play some of these games away from home,” he said.

“We are still playing in our home country in South Africa, and it’s not only Stellenbosch that we play for; we also want to make South Africa proud. So, no matter where we play, we have to go and be positive and make sure we get the home wins.”

Barker has since explained what he knows about the six-time Congo Ligue 1 champions AS Otohô, describing them as power opposition with experienced players who represent the national team.

The next domestic match for Stellenbosch after the Confederation Cup assignment will be against Orbit College FC in a Betway Premiership league game on Wednesday. Barker’s side is in the relegation zone, lying second from the bottom.

The match will be broadcast live on SABC 1.

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