Mayele could be Young Africans’ trump card in Confed Cup final

The blistering pace of leading scorer Fiston Mayele could be the trump card for Young Africans of Tanzania when they face USM Alger of Algeria on Sunday in the CAF Confederation Cup final first leg.

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Mayele scored the first goal in a 2-1 away victory over Marumo Gallants of South Africa this month that sealed a semi-final triumph.

But it was the role of the 28-year-old from the Democratic Republic of Congo in the second goal that really caught the eye.

He pushed the ball past a South African, then unleashed stunning speed to regain possession and cross for Zambian Kennedy Musonda to fire into the net for a side popularly known as Yanga.  

The brilliant assist confirmed why a number of South African clubs are reportedly interested in signing the forward whose contract expires next year.

“I am really happy for him and how he is performing. I signed him from Kinshasa side V Club and I am glad he has repaid the faith I had in him,” said Tunisia-born Yanga coach Nasreddine Nabi.

“He has one year left on his contract and, naturally, there is a lot of interest in him, but I hope he stays with us.”

Mayele lies joint second in the Confederation Cup Golden Boot race with six goals — one less than Ranga Chivaviro from Marumo.

And the scoring exploits of the Congolese do not end there.

Before Young Africans were demoted to the second-tier Confederation Cup after losing a Champions League qualifier, Mayele notched seven goals in the premier African club competition.

That total sees him joint top of the Champions League Golden Boot chart with Bouly Sambou from finalists Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.

– ‘Huge achievement’ –

In the Confederation Cup, Mayele has been ably assisted by three-goal Musonda and Stephane Aziz Ki, an Ivory Coast-born Burkina Faso international who has netted twice.

“We are the first Tanzanian team to reach the Confederation Cup final and that is a huge achievement. Now, we must try to lift the trophy,” says Nabi.

East Africa has fared dismally in the African club competitions — winning only two of the 149 titles on offer while teams from the north have been successful 92 times. 

Gor Mahia of Kenya won the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup in 1987 and Al Merrikh of Sudan triumphed in the same competition two seasons later.

Tanzania came closest to celebrating at club level in 1993 when Simba — the arch local rivals of Young Africans — lost to Stella Abidjan of the Ivory Coast in the CAF Cup final.

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The African Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup competitions were discontinued after the 2003 finals, and replaced by the Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League. 

USM coach Abdelhak Benchikha was conscious of previous Confederation Cup final failings by Algerian clubs when he said: “We owe our people a victory.”

Entente Setif, Mouloudia Bejaia and JS Kabylie have all lost finals, while clubs from fellow north African nations Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt boast 14 titles between them.    

“Young Africans are a good team. We have studied them extensively and I believe our formula will prove successful,” said Benchikha. 

Khaled Bousseliou has scored four of the 22 goals in 14 matches that took USM to the final and captain Zineddine Belaid, Aymen Mahious and Abderrahmane Meziane contributed three each.

The second leg of the final is set for Algiers on June 3.