When ZESCO United of Zambia host Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa this weekend it will be only the second CAF Champions League semi-final involving clubs from southern Africa.

The first was 15 years ago when Sundowns’ previous appearance at the penultimate stage of the premier African club competition ended with a penalty shootout victory over Petro Atletico of Angola.

North Africa have dominated the competition with teams from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria winning 28 of 51 finals.

Central African sides have lifted the trophy 12 times, west African teams have succeeded on 10 occasions and Orlando Pirates of South Africa are the only team from the southern region to go all the way.

Given the dominance of the north, it is no surprise that the other first leg pits five-time champions Zamalek of Egypt against one-time title-holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.

This match will be played in ancient Mediterranean city Alexandria on Friday night with ZESCO facing Sundowns in Zambian Copperbelt city Ndola the following afternoon.

No one outside of Zambia believed ZESCO would reach the last-four stage as they only qualified for the group stage once before and were eliminated after finishing third.