Saint George try again this weekend to become the first Ethiopian qualifiers for the group stage of a CAF club competition.

The Addis Ababa outfit are away to Egyptian side ENPPI holding a 2-0 aggregate lead after the first leg two weeks ago of a Confederation Cup play-off.

All the damage was inflicted during the first half by national team stars with midfielder Shimeles Bekele and defender Abebaw Butako scoring for the home team.

Saint George had hopes of qualifying for the CAF Champions League group stage dashed early May when Cairo club Zamalek squeezed through on away goals.

So the Ethiopians dropped to the second-tier Confederation Cup along with seven other losers from the final qualifiers for the Champions League.

And success would be especially sweet if the Saints created history by ousting an Egyptian club having had their first attempt thwarted by a side from that country.

Coach

Unbeaten in seven Champions League and Confederation Cup matches this year, Saint George owe much to the inspirational leadership of German Michael Kruger.

The 59-year-old coach has already experienced success at international level, guiding Cairo-based Arab Contractors to the 1996 African Cup Winners Cup title.

“Our two-goal first-leg lead is very important to the morale of the squad ahead of the visit to Egypt,” he told reporters in Addis Ababa.

“The advantage will give my boys confidence to go forward and apply pressure on ENPPI. I am hopeful that we can create history this weekend.”

Dribbling wizard Bekele shares the confidence of Kruger ahead of a return game to be staged behind closed doors due to post-Arab Spring security concerns.

“We are well placed to make the group stage provided all of us rectify the mistakes made in the two draws against Zamalek,” he stressed.

ENPPI are not the only Egyptian side battling for survival as former African champions Ismaily must overcome a 3-0 deficit when they host CA Bizertin from Tunisia.

Bizertin come from Bizerte — the most northern African city — and are another Champions League ‘drop out’ having lost 2-1 overall to title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt.

Three contenders

Tunisia have three contenders for mini-league slots and new league champions CS Sfaxien must overtake a 1-0 defeat away to depleted Enugu Rangers of Nigeria.

Ugonna Uzochukwu grabbed the winner three minutes from time for Enugu, who will sorely miss Sunday Mba as the star midfielder is on national team duty in the United States.

Goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim is absent for the same reason, leaving the Nigerians with a tough task to hang on against the only club to successfully defend the Confederation Cup title.

Etoile Sahel of Tunisia are in a good position to advance after clawing back twice to force a 2-2 draw at JSM Bejaia of Algeria with Malian Michailou Drame scoring the second equaliser.

But Algeria should have a last-eight presence as experienced international campaigners Entente Setif appear capable of defending a 2-0 advantage against US Bitam in Gabon.

The clash of Rabat clubs FAR and FUS is harder to predict with the latter taking a 1-0 lead into the second leg of the Moroccan derby through a Yassine El-Kordi own goal.

Stade Malien of Mali and TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo are virtually assured of overall success having established convincing first-leg leads at home.

Malien netted twice in stoppage time to crush Lydia Academic of Burundi 5-0 in Bamako while Mazembe scored at regular intervals in a 4-0 triumph over Liga Muculmana of Mozambique in Lubumbashi. (AFP)