The Kaizer Chiefs squad touched down at Abidjan’s Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport on Thursday evening ahead of their CAF Champions League assignment against Ivory Coast's Asec Mimosas.

Welcoming the team at the airport was Amakhosi’s Football Manager Bobby Motaung who arrived already earlier in the week in Abidjan to assess the facilities and the logistics before the team’s arrival.

“I’m happy with the reception we got here,” Motaung noted. “The Onomo Hotel where we stay is much better than the one we used in 2014.”

The hotel is a stone’s throw away from the airport.

Amakhosi lost two years ago both games, home and away, in the CAF Confederations against Asec, which won the CAF Championship League in 1998.

The squad arrived after a flight of about eight hours, from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International via a one hour stopover at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, Ghana.

“We have planned a visit by the team to the South African embassy on Friday,” Motaung adds, before enthusing about the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium. “The pitch is quality and this will allow us to play our normal game.”

The team looks ready for Sunday’s second leg of the CAF Champions League’s first round against Asec and fully focussed on overturning the one goal deficit from the first leg, which was played last week in South Africa.

Many Ivoirians at the airport recognised Chiefs’ Togolese striker Camaldine Abraw.

“Togo is not far from here,” Abraw said, while explaining why the Ivoirians came to greet him in numbers. “It feels like home. On the other hand, I have come here with a mission and that’s to concentrate on winning Sunday’s game.”

The match between Chiefs and Asec is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 20 March. Kick-off is at 15:30 (at 17:30, South African time).