Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker is hoping to use home ground advantage to its full effect to secure qualification to the CAF Confederation Cup Group Stage.

Stellenbosch FC will look to advance to the Group Stage of the 2025-26 CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday when the Club welcomes Equatoguinean side 15 de Agosto de Akonibe to Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.

The two sides are currently locked at 0-0 after a goalless draw in the first leg in Ebibeyin, Equatorial Guinea, last weekend, and Barker is hoping to use the more familiar conditions to his advantage when the teams meet in the second leg.

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“We’re confident going into the game on Sunday,” he said. “We want to be competing on the continent at the highest level, so it’s important for us to get ourselves past our opposition and into the Group Stage.

“No game is easy, and we encountered [during the first leg] that they’re a difficult opponent. They’re very direct and possess a lot of physicality and aerial ability.

“We have to be aware of that, but at the same time, we’re playing at home, so we have to take the game to them and make sure we ask many questions, create chances, get our goals, and hopefully progress to the next round.

“It definitely helps us to be back at Athlone. It wasn’t easy playing in Equatorial Guinea, after a lot of travel in the air and on the bus, and the stadium, the pitch, and the weather were all challenging.

“We had to overcome a lot, and I felt we did well to get a draw from that game. At home, those factors are out of the way, so we have to be really sharp and fresh, and play with the energy and intensity that we need.”

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Sunday’s encounter arrives on the back of an impressive mid-week performance by Stellenbosch in the Betway Premiership, where the team from the Winelands recorded a 4-3 victory over Golden Arrows.

“It has to be a confidence booster. It’s no secret that we had been struggling in front of goal to score the goals we needed to win matches, so having scored four will hopefully give the individuals in the team, and the team as a whole, a boost.

“The mood is always better once you get that win, and I can already see in training that the confidence levels have increased. Hopefully, we can build on that and continue creating and scoring goals.”

The mood in the Stellenbosch camp will also have been enhanced by news in the week that the Club has been nominated for the CAF Club of the Year award.

This follows an impressive 2024-25 season in which Stellies reached the semi-final of the CAF Confederation Cup in the Club’s first-ever campaign in continental football.

“It’s an incredible bit of recognition for us to be nominated among the teams that have been nominated on the continent,” Barker concluded.

“To be in line for an award like this is really something that everybody at the club can be proud of, from management right through the football club.

“Everyone plays a role in making this Club successful, and this is recognition for the hard work we have put in over a number of years, so it’s very nice to receive that nomination.

“Hopefully, not only our home and close supporters, but also the South African general at large can be proud of us and what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time.”

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The CAF Confederation Cup 2nd Preliminary Round 2nd Leg encounter between Stellenbosch FC and 15 de Agosto de Akonibe is scheduled to kick off at 15h00 on Sunday, 26 October, at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.

The match will be broadcast live on SABC Sport and the Club’s official YouTube channel. Supporters can purchase their tickets for R40 from Webtickets.