Former Bafana Bafana fullback Bradley Carnell will take his Philadelphia Union side into continental club competition action on Wednesday as they begin their bid to win the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Philadelphia, who finished in top place at the end of the regular season in Major League Soccer last year, face Defence Force away in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in the first leg of their opening round tie on Wednesday.
The MLS side include former Stellensboch centre back Olwethu Makhanya in their line-up.
The second leg is in Philadelphia on 26 February and the aggregate winner advances to the Round of 16 to face Mexico’s Club América, who eliminated Honduras’ CD Olimpia 2-1 on aggregate in their first round tie.
The Concacaf Champions Cup is the region’s equivalent of the Champions League in Africa and Europe and this year’s winner will earn a place at the 2029 Club World Cup.
Carnell, who played for South Africa at the 2002 World Cup, has coached in the competition before in 2024 when he was in charge of St Louis City but they were eliminated in the first round on the away goals rule by Houston Dynamo.
After returning from Trinidad on Thursday, Philadelphia begin the new MLS season away at DC United on Saturday.