Head coach Steve Barker has shared his excitement after learning who Stellenbosch FC will face in the Group Stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.

Stellenbosch FC were drawn in Group B of the CAF Confederation Cup on Monday alongside CD Lunda-Sul of Angola, 2009 champions Stade Malien of Mali, and two-time winners RS Berkane of Morocco.

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“Once we qualified for the Group Stage, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation to see who we would get in the draw,” Barker said.

“Now that the draw is done, we’re even more excited to face the challenge and the quality of the teams in our group.

“There are some giants of African football with us, varied types of opposition from different parts of the continent, and some beautiful countries to travel to and visit as well.

“We can’t wait for it to start taking place and obviously our aim is to make sure we advance to the knockout stage of the competition.”

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Stellies are competing in the tournament for the first time in the club’s history, but Barker believes his troops have what it takes to advance to the knockout round of the tournament.

“We’ve got to believe that we can be competition even though we are up against seasoned campaigners in CAF competitions,” he added.

“It’s important that we believe we have earned our right to be here and that we have as much of a chance as any other team to qualify.

“It’s about having the belief and trust in what we do while getting to experience different environments, stadiums, and teams with different tactical set-ups to what we might ordinarily be used to.

“All-in-all it’s a very exciting period and a massive opportunity for us to keep growing as a football club.”

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Stellenbosch reached the group stage by overcoming the challenge of Nsingizini Hotspurs and AS Vita in the preliminary rounds, and the coach believes the latter test has prepared his side well for the next round.

“There aren’t many more challenging trips than playing in DR Congo against a formidable opponent like AS Vita,” Barker concluded.

“It was a massive learning curve for everyone at the club and the lessons learned from those travels will definitely be taken into the next phase of the competition.”

The Maroons begin their Group Stage campaign with a trip to Mali to face Stade Malien on 27 November, before hosting CD Lunda-Sul at the start of next month.