The two South African players remaining in the UEFA Champions League learnt their fate in Thursday’s draw, and former Kaizer Chiefs defender Aden McCarthy has been handed what can only be described as a dream ticket.
McCarthy’s Sabah won through to the league phase for the first time and have been handed ties against European football royalty.
They have home fixtures against Barcelona (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Napoli (Italy) and Slavia Praha (Czech Republic), and travel away to Arsenal, Manchester United (both England), Villarreal (Spain) and Viking (Norway).
It will be an incredibly tough run, but in terms of experiencing the best of European football, this is just about as good as McCarthy could have expected.
He has mostly started from the bench this season but did come on to play a crucial role in their extra-time victory over Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva this week.
McCarthy did also start the only league match Sabah have played so far this campaign, a 2-0 home win over Kapaz.
Little-known Manasse Kianga is the other South African player remaining in the competition. The striker plays for Slovan Bratislava and has scored in the Champions League this season.
He also has some elite teams in his line-up, though perhaps not quite as impressive as McCarthy’s.
They face Inter Milan (Italy), Real Betis (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) and Stuttgart (Germany) at home, and travel to holders Paris Saint-Germain, Lille (both France), Roma (Italy) and LASK (Austria).
Sabah are making their debut in the Champions League and have already been through four rounds to reach the league phase, defeating The New Saints (Wales), KuPS (Finland), Gift Links’ Aarhus (Denmark) and Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava have been competing in European football since the 1956/57 season, so are old hands, and beat Barcelona 3-2 to win the old UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1968/69.
They have had a slightly shorter route to the league phase than Sabah, playing one round fewer. They beat Iberia 1999 (Georgia), Mjällby (Sweden) and Celje (Slovenia).
