Soccer-African Champions' League team profiles

08:18 p.m Aug 19, 1999 Eastern

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Profiles of the eight teams competing in the African Champions' League which kicks off on Saturday.

The teams are divided into two groups, to be played on a home-and-away league basis. The group winners play in the final over two legs in December.

Group One:

Hearts of Oak (Ghana): One of Africa's oldest clubs but without a continental title on their honours' board. Coach Jones Attuaquayefio has limited resources but several exciting players, including international Joe Fameyeh and Osmanou Amadu. The side scored 13 goals in four matches in the knock-out rounds of this year's competition.

Al Ahli (Egypt): Strong favourites for the title after a dominant season in Egypt which earned them a 28th league title. Ahli have twice won the Champions' Cup but their last success dates back 12 years. The team is led by Hossam Hassan, a veteran international striker still in a rich vein of form. Their coach is German Rainer Zobel.

Raja Casablanca (Morocco): Winners of the recent Afro-Asian Cup and guided by Oscar Fullone, the Argentine coach who was in charge of ASEC Abidjan's Champions' Cup winning-team last year. Raja won the competition two years ago but disappointed last year. Needed a penalty shoot-out win over Djoliba of Mali in the second round to qualify for this year's league.

Shooting Stars (Nigeria): No Nigerian team have won the trophy in more than 30 years of competition, although Stars have twice been runners-up. Some of their players were beaten by soldiers in Kinshasa, Congo, during the second-round match against DC Motema Pembe in June and refused to play on, threatening their participation. But they won their protest and have since reinforced their team.

Group Two:

ASEC Abidjan (Ivory Coast): Convincing winners last year before surprisingly disbanding the side and replacing them with players from their youth centre. The teenagers caused a sensation by beating Esperance in the African Super Cup in February but have been unable to keep up that tempo. They are coached by Jean-Marc Guillou, a former French international.

Dynamos (Zimbabwe): The long-standing glamour club of Zimbabwe who reached the final last year but lost 4-2 on aggregate to ASEC. Their success was a surprise against strong opposition but also an indication of the talent available. Coach Sunday Marimo has added Ronald Sibanda and Kingstone Rinhemota, two current Zimbabwean internationals, to his squad for the Champions' League.

Esperance (Tunisia): Group favourites and the only club to have won all of Africa's club prizes after claiming the Cup Winners' Cup last year. Coach Youssef Zouaoui has prepared his team in Portugal where they played several warm-up matches against top opposition. Esperance completed the league and cup double in Tunisia in May with the help of imported players from Congo and Nigeria.

St Louisienne (Reunion): The first club from the French-controlled island of Reunion to qualify for the Champions' League after upsetting South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns in the second round in May. The team is coached by Jean-Pierre Bade and features several former French professionals, as well as imports from Cameroon and nearby Madagascar.