“It is a two-leg affair,” coach Steve Komphela says ahead of Saturday’s home fixture in the first leg of the CAF Champions League first round against Côte d’Ivoire’s Asec Mimosas. “We play first at home, which means that we can’t defend. We have not won any silverware in the domestic season. We now have to show the desire to succeed on the international level.”

Kaizer Chiefs host the Ivoirians at the FNB Stadium on Saturday evening, 12 March (kick-off is at 19:30).

Asec Mimosas finished second in the Ivoirian league last season, behind champions AS Tanda. They beat Chad’s AS Coton in the CAF Champions League’s preliminary round, while Amakhosi went past Comoros’ Volcan de Moroni.

Until the two recent defeats (against Orlando Pirates and Platinum Stars), Chiefs were on a pretty good run, staying undefeated for six matches and climbing on the Absa Premiership to third position.

Amakhosi failed to score during these two lost games. Komphela, however, notes that “it’s not that we are not creating chances. We do, more than enough even. We just need the composure to finish.”

Asec won the CAF Champions League in 1998, after beating Zimbabwe’s Dynamos over two legs.

They were, however, on the losing side when Orlando Pirates beat the Ivorian side in 1995 in the African Champions Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League which started in 1997.

Amakhosi played in the African Champions Cup in 1993, when they were defeated in the round-of-16. This is Chiefs’ third time in the Champions League, while it’s Asec’s 14th run. Their last participation was, however, five years back (in 2011), while this year is the third consecutive Champions League run for the Glamour Boys.

“They definitely have more quality than Volcan,” Komphela assesses Saturday’s opponent. “But this is the Champions League. There are no easy sides. The champions from the different countries are involved in this competition.”

To be exact, 64 clubs are participating in the Champions League. Eight clubs go to the group stage, which starts after the second round.

“The Asec encounter will give us an opportunity to measure where South African soccer is compared to that of Côte d’Ivoire,” continues the Chiefs coach, “we want to represent the 15 PSL teams on the African continent with pride and dignity.”

Komphela played for Amakhosi in 1993, but he didn’t participate in the African Champions Cup that year when teams from Botswana and Rwanda were beaten, before losing out to Egypt’s Zamalek in the round-of-16. Players who did play were, for example, Doctor Khumalo, Neil Tovey, Ace Khuse, Wellington Manyathi, Shane MacGregor and Gardner Seale.

Chiefs lost two years ago in the CAF Confederations Cup over two legs from Asec, but that was at a stage when the Glamour Boys had just gone out of the Champions League and probably lacked a bit of appetite for the lesser important African tournament.

Komphela acknowledges that the African Champions League is the trophy “the Chairman wants us to win”, as it’s the one cup that’s missing in Chiefs’ otherwise well-filled trophy cabinet.

The tickets for the first leg of the CAF Champions League first round between Amakhosi and Les Mimosas are sold at Computicket and Shoprite/Checkers for R60.

The match is not scheduled to be televised. Live commentary will be available via Kaizer Chiefs’ Twitter page, @KaizerChiefs.