Founded in 1970, Tempete, nicknamed Bel Kolonn, made two appearances in CONCACAF Champions Cup to date.

In 1989 they lost in a first round fixture to RC Riviero Pilote of Martinique 5-6 in a penalty shoot-out, after the two teams were locked 0-0 at the end of regulation and extra time.

Then in 1993, they were drawn against Aiglon du Lamentin of Martinique, but forfeited the match due to political sanctions against their country.

They won the Haitian League in 1992 and 2008 as well as the Super Coupe d’Haiti in 1992, the Coupe d’Haiti in 2005 and the Coupe Digicel in 2007.

With these achievements to their name, local football fans can gear themselves for a keenly contested game come Saturday at the GCC ground.

The match is scheduled for a 19:30 h start and will be preceded by a friendly encounter between Kashif and Shanghai 2008/09 champions as well as the 2009 Mayor’s Cup champions Pele and Georgetown Football Association/Banks Beer 2008 Division One champions BK International Western Tigers.

This match gets under way from 16:30 h and will set the tone for the feature match which is expected to test Alpha United.

Despite suffering two losses within three days, Alpha United, the 2007/08 Kashif and Shanghai champs who also won the 2008 Mayor’s Cup are capable of bettering those two performances.

On Saturday last, they lost to a President’s XI which comprised Under-21 players playing in the Georgetown Football Association’s Premier League and the Milo Under-21 Cup, while on Sunday evening, they lost to Pele by a 2-4 margin in a penalty shoot-out, after the two teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation and extra time.

In another section of the media, Alpha United’s president Odinga Lumumba said Saturday’s match will be like a horse race and Alpha will run down their opponents.

He reportedly said Sunday’s loss to Pele came about as the coaching staff was experimenting to find the right formation and combination up front.

He admitted that his strikers’ finishing on Sunday was poor and its an area that coach (Mervyn `Pug’ Wilson) would have to work on leading up to Saturday’s international fixture.

The Caribbean Champions Club Cup tournament will see 12 teams being paired for two-leg series this month, with the six winners advancing to join Puerto Rico Islanders and San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad in the next round.

The first part of the Caribbean Cup will have W. Connection of Trinidad, Jamaica’s Portmore United, Haitian clubs Tempete and Cavaly SA, Inter Moengotapoe of Suriname and Greenbay Hoppers of Antigua and Barbuda drawn against contenders from Puerto Rico, Guyana, Dominica, Aruba and Curacao.

The six remaining teams, being all first-round winners, San Juan Jabloteh and Puerto Islanders will be drawn against one another in two-leg quarterfinals to be played in mid-April, with the winners advancing to single-game semi-finals on May 15 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The final and third place playoff will follow two days later at the same venue and both finalists and third place teams will qualify for the 2009/2010 CONCACAF Champions League.

San Juan Jabloteh and Puerto Rico Islanders are the two seeded teams while the non-seeded teams are Portmore United, W. Connections, Greenbay Hoppers, Inter Moengotapoe, Cavaly Sportive Association of Haiti, Tempete, Sevilla of Puerto Rico, CSD Barber of Curacao, SV Racing Club of Aruba, SV Britannia of Aruba, Alpha United and Centre Bath Estate of Dominica.

Alpha and SA Cavaly of Haiti are hosting first-leg matches.

Cavaly will host SV Britannia of Aruba on Saturday also in Leogane, Haiti and Alpha’s return game is scheduled for March 25 in Haiti.

Britannia will be home for the second leg against Cavaly on March 30.

Sevilla FC and Green Bay Hoppers will also meet on Saturday with the return game set for March 29 and the winner of the Greenbay Hoppers versus Sevilla tie will meet the winner of the Tempete versus Alpha tie in the second leg, billed for April 20.