CAF Confederation Cup
CONFEDERATION CUP: RIVERS UTD V BLOEMFONTEIN CELTIC TIE GETS NEW DATE, BUT NO VENUE YET
Rivers United are now to face South Africa’s Bloemfontein in the weekend of 22-24 January at a yet to be decided country.
But it will hold in any neighbouring country to Nigeria. The country is bordered to the north by Niger Republic, to the east by Chad and Cameroon and to the west by Benin Republic.
The Nigeria Football Federation is to find a neighbouring country to Nigeria which has more lenient Covid-19 protocols for travellers arriving from South Africa.
Sports Village Square recalls that the match was originally to hold on 6 January at the home base of Rivers United in Port Harcourt. But the South African side were not able to travel to Nigeria due to the strict coronavirus regulations by the Nigerian Government.
The regulations meant that Bloemfontein Celtic would have had to quarantine for seven days upon arrival, because South Africa is designated as one of the high risk countries.
BBC quotes the South African Football Federation (SAFA) as saying: “the decision to reschedule the match comes after SAFA reached out to CAF to seek guidance on the matter after Celtic’s initial appeal to the Nigerian FA and Nigerian government was turned down.
“The Nigerian Football Federation to decide and communicate the venue, date, kick-off-time and the approval of the neutral host association by 12 January 2021 at the latest.
“The additional player registration period starts on the 10th of January 2021, the two teams shall not be allowed to field any of the players registered during this period for this match.”
Rivers United lead the tie 2-0 after the first leg with the overall winners progressing to play Champions League losers Enyimba of Nigeria in the play-offs to qualify for the group stage of the Confederation Cup.
Zamalek commenced their CAF Confederation Cup journey with a 1-0 win over Kenya’s Police in the initial leg of the second preliminary round held in Nairobi this Saturday.
Veteran winger Abdallah El-Saied secured the win for the Whites with a precise strike from outside the box just a minute before halftime.
The Cairo giants, winners of the 2023-2024 CAF Confederation Cup title, started the match with relentless pressure on the hosts to clinch victory in the first leg and alleviate pressure before the upcoming return fixture in Cairo next Friday.
“The most important thing for us was to win and achieve our target,” Zamalek coach Gomes said after the game.
Hosts Police FC of Kenya could not breach Zamalek’s resolute defense in search of an equalizer.
Despite notable summer acquisitions, Zamalek’s coach Jose Gomes opted for a standard lineup, integrating young talents in lieu of seasoned players.
“We are now stronger than the previous season, thanks to spending more time with the team and preparing to play in the tournaments that we will participate in,” the Portuguese coach added.
Conversely, Kenya’s Police FC squandered a clear scoring opportunity against Zamalek, missing a crucial chance fifteen minutes before the final whistle, dashing hopes of leveling the score.
Kenya’s Police FC earned their place in this round following a hard-fought 1-0 aggregate victory over Ethiopia Coffee SC.
-Ahram
Nigeria’s Enyimba played a thrilling 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso’s Etoile Filante in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second round tie in Bamako on Friday.
There have been three previous confrontation with Burkina Faso teams and this Friday encounter was the second time that Enyimba had had to face Etoile Filante.
According to facts supplied by Opta Nigeria, Etoile Filante were Enyimba’s first ever opponent on the continent 22 years ago in March 2002. Ever since, Enyimba have played 157 times on the continent; the highest by any Nigerian club.
Enyimba carry their advantage to the return leg to be played on 22 September.
Nigeria’s sole survivors in the CAF Confederation Cup,Enyimba will face Burkina Faso sides, Etoile de Filante in the second round of the competition.
Enyimba drew bye in the preliminary round while the Burkina Faso team reached the second round after eliminating Hafia of Guinea.
Enyimba, second runners-up in the Nigerian League will be attempting to win the Confederation Cup for the first time for Nigeria as they did in the Champions League 21 years ago.
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