On October 24, 1997, KCCA made a daunting trip to Tunis where they had a date against Tunisia’s Esperance.
It was a return leg of the semi-finals of then, CAF Cup (merged with Africa Cup Winners Cup to form the current CAF Confederation Cup) where the Ugandan side were trailing 3-1 from the first leg.
But before that, KCCA began their campaign at the First Round against Rwanda’s Rwanda FC.
The Kasasiro won the tie 4-2 on aggregate after running out 3-0 winners in Kampala but lost 2-1 in Kigali to progress.
At the second round stage, KCCA faced DR Congo (then Zaire)’s AS Bantous and the Yellow Boys won 1-0 in Kampala.
However, they got a walkover as the civil war in Zaire meant the second leg couldn’t take place and the Ugandan side progressed.
The win saw the Kasasiro book a date with Kenya’s then giant club AFC Leopards.
In Kampala, the two sides drew 2-2 in what appeared like an advantage for Ingwe but the Ugandans stunned the hosts in Nairobi in the return leg by winning 1-0 to reach the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate to the excitement of the Lugogo fans and Ugandans at large.
SEMI –FINALS DATE WITH ESPERANCE
Tunisia’s Esperance was KCCA’s next opponents at the semi-final stage after they had eliminated Cameroon’s Coton Sport Garoua 5-4 on aggregate winning 4-1 and losing 3-1 away.
In Kampala, KCCA failed to capitalize by losing 3-1 in Nakivubo and had an uphill task in Tunis as they needed at least to match the result to stay in contention.
It wasn’t to be as the Tunisians, eventual competitions winners walloped the Ugandan side 6-0 to eliminate the Lugogo based side 9-1 on aggregate.
Twenty years later, KCCA return to Stade Olympique Rades, Tunis to face another continental giant, Club Africain in a group A tie in the Confederation Cup.
Unlike 20 years ago, KCCA just need a draw of any kind to progress from the group.
