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Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international Khama Billiat will have a feel of the type of opposition the Warriors will meet in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers when Mamelodi Sundowns host TP Mazembe in the CAF Super Cup in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Brazilians, who lifted the Champions League last year, engage the Confederation Cup winners in a traditional Cup match between the winners of the two major continental knockout tournaments.

It is likely to be an explosive showdown considering the profile of these two teams on the continent.

Five-time African champions TP Mazembe are the defending champions of this Cup which they have won on all the three occasions they have featured in it.

And Mamelodi Sundowns also want to win it for the first time and make history.

Sundown’s coach Pitso Mosimane rested nine players, including Billiat, on Tuesday night in a league match against Chippa which ended in a 1-1 draw.

But for Warriors poster boy Billiat, the match against the Lubumbashi-based side is significant considering the team has four national team players that were at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon.

Even though the bulk of the Leopards team ply their trade in Europe, TP Mazembe provided four players — goalkeeper Matampi Vumi Ley, defenders Issama Mpeko Djo, Bope Bokadi Merveille and Bolingi Mpangi Jonathan to the final party at the continental showpiece.

And meeting such opposition at the weekend might be vital for Billiat.

Facing the DRC opponents could give him a hint of what the Warriors should expect from the Leopards when they meet in the AFCON qualifiers which begin in June.

Zimbabwe were drawn in Group G where DRC are the top seeds in a group that also has Congo Brazzaville and Liberia.

The Warriors, who are still smarting from their poor performance at the 2017 Nations Cup finals, will open the campaign with a home match against the Lone Star of Liberia.

The first games of the qualifiers are on June 5 to 13 before the matches take a long hiatus only to resume next year in March when the Warriors travel to Brazzaville.

Then Zimbabwe will meet DRC in back-to-back clashes in September.

The DRC were in Group C at AFCON finals in Gabon alongside Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco and Togo where they progressed together with the North Africans.

They, however, lost to 2-1 to Ghana to bow out of the tournament.

Billiat’s coach Mosimane wants to win the Super Cup.

“We made nine changes because I saw the greasy field,” said Mosimane, whose side trail log leaders Cape Town City by four points, but with five matches in hand.

“Two, I have a Cup final on Saturday, so what is my priority? We’re not that bad on the log position to say if we drop two points then you can’t win this league.

“So you got to prioritise what is important. I’m not saying this game is not important but I’m saying I have a CAF Cup final (which) is important for the history of the club, history of South Africa because no one (sic) has won that cup.

“How many times have we played against Chippa and how many times have we beaten them? So we can still play them and they are coming again to Pretoria (on February 28). We can play again and see what happens,” said Mosimane.

Another Cup game means some rich pickings for Billiat’s side early in the year.

The winner of Saturday’s game will pocket $100 000 while the runners up will get $75 000.

TP Mazembe, who will also meet the winner between CAPS United and Lesotho’s Lioli, in the first round of the Champions League, have appointed a new coach — Frenchman Thiery Froger.

The former Togo coach replaces countryman, Hubert Velud, who quit the Kinshasha club at the end of last year to join Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel.