NKANA OPPONENTS WATCH – TAS Casablanca
Zambia Super League defending Champions, Nkana on Sunday put one leg into the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup following a 2-0 win over Moroccan outfit Tihad Athlétique Sport de Casablanca (TAS).
The ZamFoot Crew now looks at Nkana’s opponent TAS booked their ticket to participate in the 2020/2021 CAF cup competition after they had won the Throne cup in Morocco for the season 2018/2019, while they were and still are in the second division of the Moroccan Botola Pro League 2.
Tihad is a second-division club that qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup by winning the Throne Cup, the premier knockout competition in the North African kingdom of Morocco
Tihad Athletic Sport of Casablanca or TAS Casablanca is the most supported club in the City of Casablanca behind Wydad Casablanca, Raja Casablanca, and RAC.
THE THRONE CUP
The current format features 4 preliminary rounds and the final phase. All games are one-legged.
The Moroccan Throne Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men’s domestic Moroccan football
The final phase starts with the Round of 32 where the 16 teams qualified from the fourth round are joined by all 16 Botola teams. Draws are “blind”, meaning a Botola team can be drawn in one match with a team from the same league. The Round of 32 is followed by the Round of 16 matches, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final.
The cup tournament started in 1957 and the winners were Wydad Casablanca who won it last in 2004, other notable winners include RS Berkane, FUS de Rabat, Raja Casablanca.
To put this in simpler terms, the Moroccan throne cup is like the FA in England where the winner qualifies for the Europa League.
HOW THEY HAVE FARED IN CAF CONFEDERATION CUP FOR 2020/2021 SEASON
TAS de Casablanca made history when they participated and won their first match ever in a continental competition. The match was played in Gambia versus FC Gamtel and Moroccan visitors TAS De Casablanca won 1 nil. The second leg in Casablanca was not played Making TAS Casablanca progress to the second round.
In the second round, they played against ESAE of Benin on 23rd December whom they walloped 4-0 at home before recording a one-all draw away in Benin thereby securing qualification to CAF confederation cup pre-group stage where they were pitted against Nkana
They are a very good team at home, the fact that they managed to put four past the Benin side at home shows that the tie is not yet over. Nkana needs to go and do the job on that side and try at least to get a goal so that they disturb the host’s game plan but they need to be cautious and wary of their opponent’s threat.
TAS Casablanca might not do well in the league but Nkana should take the example of Napsa stars alluding to TAS Casablanca who is currently struggling in the ZSL league but doing wonders in the CAF confederation cup. CAF matches are a different ball game altogether.
TAS CASABLANCA IN THE LEAGUE
Currently, TAS Casablanca lies in 16th position which is the last position as they have picked up 5 draws and 4 losses putting 12 goals past opponents and in return conceding 19 times from 9 games played so far in the Botola league 2 which is the second tier league in the Moroccan football league as the top tier is called Botola pro league. In the current league campaign, they have only lost once at home to Olympique Dcheira via 4 nil loss.
Last season in the Botolo league 2 they finished in 11th position.
The second leg match between TAS CASABLANCA and NKANA FC will be played on Sunday the 21st February 2021 at Stade Mohammed V stadium the home of Raja club athletic and Wydad Casablanca at 21:00 hrs Zambian time.
The winner of the encounter on aggregate qualifies to the group stage of the CAF confederation cup.