CAF Confederation Cup
Morocco’s Berkane complete semi-final line-up after winning five-goal thriller
Moroccan side Renaissance Berkane secured their place in the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup after winning the second-half five-goal thriller by defeating Libya’s Abu Salim 3-2 on Sunday.
The 2020 and 2022 title winners showcased their resilience in the second-leg game in a thrilling match that saw a total of five goals scored in a single half and also saw two players sent off.
Berkane player Omar El Arjoun and Hossam El Abani of Abu Salim were given their marching orders in stoppage time as both sides fought for victory.
This win for Berkane came after the first leg of the quarter-final match ended in a goalless draw in Benghazi.
Burkina Faso international, Asofu Dayo, was the hero as he scored the third goal for Berkane deep into stoppage time that sparked wild jubilation for the home side.
This means Berkane advance 3-2 aggregate and will face off against the reigning champions, USM Alger, in what promises to be a highly anticipated clash.
The first half remained goalless despite attempts from both sides, with the home team facing strong resistance from the Libyan defence, which thwarted all attempts by the Tunisian coach Mouin Chaabani’s squad.
Abu Salim entered the second half with vigour, surprising the Moroccans with an early goal in the 47th minute by Hossam El Abani.
However, Senegalese player Boubacar Fall responded for Berkane in the 68th minute.
Moroccan defender Adil Tahif added the second goal for Berkane in the 72nd minute, bringing the score to 2-1 in favor of the Moroccans against the Libyans.
Refusing to surrender, Abu Salim players managed to equalise in the 83rd minute through Abd El Moumen El Ayan, intensifying the match.
Youssef El Fahli scored the third goal for Renaissance Berkane in the 90+10th minute, but the goal was disallowed upon review by VAR.
The efforts of Berkane players paid off with a third goal in the 90+15th minute, sealing their qualification to the semi-finals of the competition.
CAF Confederation Cup
CAF adjudges Morocco’s Youssef Mehri’s goal as the fastest in football history
Moroccan club, Renaissance de Berkane, beat their Algerian counterparts, CS Constantine, 4-0 in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals at the weekend.
The game got off to a dream start for the Moroccan club as it took Youssef Mehri less than a minute to open the scoring in the big win against the Algerians.
Officially, the goal is recorded to have been scored after 13 seconds.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), CAF remarks: “Youssef Mehri goes straight into the history books. The RS Berkane striker scores the fastest goal ever scored in the CAF Cup.”
A deeper search by Sports Village Square indicates that a Nigerian player, Paul Onuachu, had previously scored a faster goal, but not in a CAF Cup duel.
The basketball player-like footballer scored his first international goal in a 1-0 defeat of Egypt on 26 March 2019.
The goal inflicted Nigeria’s first defeat on Egypt in 29 years. But more significant was the timing of the goal. Onuachu, within eight seconds of kick-off, undoubtedly entered the record books as the second fastest goal in international football records after that of Germany’s Lukas Podolsk, who scored after six seconds in a friendly against Ecuador in 2013.
Fans had hardly settled down at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba for the Nigeria versus Egypt match when Onuachu released a thunderous shot that turned out to be the match’s decider.
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The Renaissance Sportive de Berkane delegation will travel to Algeria this Friday to face CS Constantine in the CAF Cup. Tension may be building up for the potentially explosive confrontation that could have a build-up from last year’s fixtures of the Moroccan club and another Algerian outfit, USM Algiers, in the CAF Confederation Cup.
A Moroccan news outlet, Sport.le360, reports that a Tunisian airline will operate the direct flight between Oujda-Angad Airport, which is located about 12 kilometres north of Oujda and about 600 kilometres northeast of Casablanca, near the Algerian border and Constantine Mohamed Boudiaf International Airport.
Last year, political differences between Morocco and Algeria scuttled similar semi-final clashes between clubs of both countries.
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday ruled in favour of the Algerian football federation in a row over a map of Morocco on shirts worn by Renaissance Berkane in the 2024 CAF Confederation Cup.
Algerian club USM Alger were kicked out of last year’s competition after both legs of their semi-final against Berkane were cancelled because of a diplomatic dispute.
Neither match took place as USMA and the Algerian authorities objected to a map of Morocco on the Berkane shirts which included Western Sahara.
Algeria cut diplomatic ties with North African neighbours Morocco in 2021, partly over the Western Sahara issue.
The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks the territory’s independence.
The Confederation of African Football awarded Berkane a 3-0 victory for both legs of the semi-final.
CAF at the time responded to an appeal by the Algerian FA by ruling in favour of Berkane, saying the club had been wearing the same jerseys since the start of the tournament.
But the Algerian FA took the case to sport’s highest court in Switzerland, which determined that the shirts in question were “contrary to CAF regulations, as they display a territorial map that is of a political nature.”
“The image of a map of Morocco including Western Sahara on the shirts of RS Berkane depicts a message, a demonstration or propaganda of a political nature as it represents the assertion of a territorial dispute that is contested and still unresolved as of today,” CAS said in a statement.
“By the laws of the game of the International Football Association Board, it is prohibited to convey any content of a political nature on all equipment, including shirts.”
CAS added that the initial decision by CAF to “maintain the approval of the shirts is annulled”, but the court said that it would have no effect on the results of the tournament.
Egypt’s Zamalek beat Berkane on away goals in the final.
-AFP
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