South Africa on the Continent: Orlando Pirates Makes History as Mamelodi Sundowns Crashes Out

• South Africa experienced a high and a low this past weekend when it comes to its teams' fortunes on the African continent
• Mamelodi Sundowns crashed out of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, while Orlando Pirates advanced to the semifinals of the Confederations Cup
• The Buccaneers made history in the process of advancing, while the Brazilians will be bitterly disappointed with their failure considering the resources at their disposal

It was a mixed weekend for South Africa's remaining teams in the two African club competitions.

Mamelodi Sundowns was surprisingly knocked out of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals by Petro de Luanda. Orlando Pirates, on the other hand, advanced to the semifinals of the Confederations Cup after seeing off Simba SC

According to sports statistics experts OptaJabu, this was the sixth time that the Buccaneers had reached the semifinals of an African competition, a record-extension by a South African team. These include the 1995 African Champions Cup, 1999/2000 African Cup Winners Cup, 2006/07 and 2012/13 Champions League, and 2015/16 Confederations Cup.

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The Brazilians will be extra disappointed, because their unmatched power on the transfer market in South Africa allows the club to optimise squad composition for continental duty. Since winning their maiden Champions League title in 2016, they've only been to the semifinals once since then.

Pirates is now on the path towards making more history if their Confed Cup campaign is a success in terms of silverware. The club would be the first from Mzansi to have won both the Champions League and Confederations Cup.

They will take on Libya's Ahli Tripoli in the last four of the competition. The first leg is away on the 08 May, before matters conclude in Orlando a week later on the 15th of the month.

Simba FC players seen in photos and video allegedly burning muthi before Orlando Pirates match

The second leg of the CAF Confederations Cup quarterfinal between Orlando Pirates and Simba SC was expected to produce drama, but the shenanigans began before that.

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As reported by Sports Brief, during the warm-ups, Simba players were seen huddled around the centre circle, dancing rhythmically.

This wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but for a small plume of smoke rising out of this tight circle of players.