CAF Champions League
Can Remo Stars go far with AS FAR?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
For the third season running, Remo Stars of Ikenne are in continental race for honours. The continental fixtures for the model club have always been tough, leading to early exit in 2022 and 2023.
Nothing has changed except a renew spirit infused on the club that is domiciled in one of the urban villages in South West Nigeria.
Just as in their debut continental appearance, they are again drawn against one of the continental powerhouses of Africa, Association sportive des Forces armées royales, simply known as AS FAR.
Not only are they past continental champions, Nigerian clubs have always found the military club, a hard nut to crack. Remo Stars experienced this in their debut continental adventure two years ago.
ASFAR were CAF Champions League winners in 1985 as well as being Confederation Cup winners in 2005 and runners up in 2006.
The army club is being run by the Moroccan National Defence Administration. It was founded by King Hassan II, the father of the reigning monarch, King Mohammed VI.
King Hassan II, founder of AS FAR with Prince Mohammed VI (now King Mohammed VI, the monarch of Morocco
Though with lesser historical background, Remo Star are seeking redemption in the continent this season as they intend to go farther than their previous limitations.
AS FAR are no strangers to the the Ikenne-based club who have bolstered their squad with new signings.
Remo Stars famously pulled a stunning 1-1 draw against the continental giants in 2022
They include Ibrahim Shuaibu, a former Giwa FC striker and Benin midfielder Serge Obasa.
CAF website quoted Remo Stars’ head coach Daniel Ogunmodede as being cautiously optimistic, saying, “We learn from our experiences, and I believe we will do better this time around. It’s our third time on the continent, and we’re more experienced now.”
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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