CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals: Five things to know

[FILES] President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe. (Photo by Alfredo Zuniga / AFP)

It is 26 years since Orlando Pirates of South Africa lifted Confederation of African Football (CAF) silverware, and a favourable draw has given them a good chance to end the drought this month.

The Soweto Buccaneers dodged the big guns in the quarter-finals, and face Al Ahly Tripoli of Libya in a semi-final first leg on Sunday believing they can overcome the north Africans on aggregate.

While Ahly is unlikely to be pushovers, they appear less formidable than TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo or Renaissance Berkane of Morocco, both former title-holders who clash in the other semi-final.

Here, AFP Sport highlights five things to know before the first legs of a competition offering $1.25 million (1.19 mn euros) to the winners and a crack at the CAF Champions League winners in the Super Cup. Winning hosts

Hosts are three times more likely than visiting teams to win at the semi-finals stage in the Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.

There have been 24 home and eight away victories while 16 matches were drawn since the semi-finals began in 2009, five years after the competition was launched.

Home teams have scored 60 goals and away sides 29 with a 1.85 average per match well below the 2.28 of the CAF Champions League, the senior CAF club competition. Stunning Pirates

Pirates, the 1996 CAF Super Cup winners, fondly remember their only previous Confederation Cup semi-finals appearance as they beat African giants Al Ahly of Egypt home and away.

After building a slender 1-0 first-leg advantage in Soweto, the Buccaneers trailed by two goals in the return match soon after half-time