CAF Confederation Cup
Club Africain, Rivers Utd battle for top spot in CAF Confederation Cup action
The CAF Confederation Cup resumes on Wednesday, 20 December with another dose of high-octane African club football lined up across the continent.
A total of eight fixtures mark the resumption of the competition which will be Match Day 4 as the race towards a place in the quarter-finals heats up.
One of the marquee fixtures for the week will be a battle for the number one spot in Group C as Nigeria’s Rivers United travel to Tunis to face Club Africain.
The two sides met last week with the result going 1-0 in favour of United which interestingly sees the two sides equally tied on points, goals scored and conceded.
In another tie up north, Egypt’s Modern Future welcome USM Alger who have been in fine form as they look to defend their title.
The Algerian giants have collected maximum points in all their three matches, boasting clean sheets in all their encounters and will be looking at maintaining this impressive run.
In South Africa, SuperSport United must get a victory against Al Hilal Benghazi of Libya should they harbourany hopes of progressing further.
Unlike their Pretoria counterparts, Mamelodi Sundowns, United are yet to collect a single point in their previous three matches as they languish at the bottom of Group A.
CAF Confederation Cup | Match Day 4 Fixtures:
Wednesday, 20 December
- 13h00 GMT | Diables Noirs v RS Berkane
- 16h00 GMT | Sagrada Esperanca v Zamalek
- 16h00 GMT | Dreams v Academica do Lobito
- 16h00 GMT | Stade Malien v Sekhukhune
- 16h00 GMT | Modern Future v USM Alger
- 19h00 GMT | SuperSport Utd v Al Hilal Benghazi
- 19h00 GMT | CO Coyah v Abu Salem
- 19h00 GMT | Club Africain v Rivers United
-CAF
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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