With the Kaiser Chiefs recently learning of their path to the CAF Champions League proper, it feels like a good time to look at what sort of talent they could encounter if they make it to the full tournament. Read on to find the top scorers in CAF Champions League history.
To do that, we’re looking at the top scorers in CAF in the competitions’ history.
Number 1. Mohamed Aboutrika
Like others on this list, Aboutrika found fame in the Champions League whist with Al Ahly. He was also part of the team that won five titles between 2005 and 2013 but in addition to the titles he also pulled in a host of individual honours over his career.
For starters, he made the CAF team of the year in four of those seasons, top scored in 2006 and his award of African Player of the Year in 2008 puts him in prestigious company alongside huge names like Didier Drogba, Mo Salah and George Weah as past winners.
His 31 goals in the Champions League makes him the all-time top scorer too.
There you have it, the top scorers in CAF Champions League. Just like some of the best undrafted NBA players of all time, this list of football stars might be unknown from the rest of the world. In Africa, however, they are stars and they have a bigger legacy than some of the mainstream European and South American stars.
Will anyone catch Aboutrika?
Number 2. Tresor Mputu
Mazembe winger Tresor Mputu has a spectacular haul of goals, which becomes all the more remarkable when you consider he spends a fair amount of his time out wide.
He has won the trophy twice with both wins coming in back to back seasons; in 2008/09 he bagged four goals including one in the final. A year later, he added a further three to his tally from just six games.
Unfortunately, he missed the remainder of the tournament through suspension. Given that Mazembe won Linafoot last season and that Mputu is still playing, you’ll probably find decent betting odds that he’ll add to his career total of 28 goals and 12 assists.
Number 3. Emad Meteb
Like Flavio, Meteb’s success in the Champions League all came with El Ahly and the duo actually played together for several seasons. Meteb, however, remained with the dominant Egyptians longer and collected a mammoth five Champions League trophies in that time.
The now 37-year-old had a sparkling career with El Ahly during which time he made just shy of 300 appearances and managed 151 direct goal contributions – 120 goals and 31 assists. 24 of those goals came in the Champions League.
Number 4. Flavio
Angolan legend Flavio held a mightily impressive scoring record before he retired at his first ever club, Pedro Atletico. Perhaps his most famous goal, certainly globally, came during Angola’s World Cup appearance in 2006 but he was deadly on the domestic front too and helped spearhead El Ahly to three Champions League triumphs in just four seasons between 2004/05 and 2007/08.
The 2005 success saw him blank but when El Ahly retained their crown the next year he scored three – one in the semi-final – and assisted another in the final against Sfaxien. When the hat-trick of titles was completed, Flavio hit five goals. In total, he scored 21 goals across 54 appearances in the tournament.
Number 5. MbwanaSamatta
Samatta boasts an impressive record of notching a goal every 160 minutes across his 40 appearances in Africa’s premier competition. His first taste came playing for Simba, but it was after his move to Mazembe when he catapulted to the next level.
He spent five years with the Congolese club and after firing them to glory in 2015 he earned a move to Europe. After a successful period with Belgian side Gent he joined Aston Villa in a £8.5m move.
He is currently on loan in Turkey from the Premier League side after playing just 946 minutes for Dean Smith’s side last season.
