CAF Confederation Cup
BENIN REPUBLIC TO HOST RIVERS UNITED VS BLOEMFONTEIN CONFEDERATION CUP DUEL
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The rescheduled CAF Confederation Cup duel involving Nigeria’s Rivers United and South Africa’s Bloemfontein Celtic will now hold in Porto Novo, Benin Republic on Sunday 23 January.
The match was to have been played in Port Harcourt on 6 January but the South Africans were not prepared for the seven-day quarantine which Nigerian government special task force on Covid-19 prescribed.
South Africa is one of the red flag zones of the new variant of Covid-19.
At the prompting of letters from both the Nigeria Football Association and their South African counterparts, (SAFA), CAF rescheduled the match and gave the NFF up till Tuesday (12 January) to find a venue from a neighbouring country with more lenient Covid-19 protocols regarding travellers coming from South Africa.
.Rivers United have a 2-0 away advantage. Sports Village Square also gathered that the designations of the match officials are maintained. Rivers United are to take charge of all organizational expenses in the neutral country as the host club and to ensure that the visiting team has the approvals for the entry in the neutral country.
The additional player registration period started on Sunday 10th January, but neither Rivers United nor Bloemfontein Celtic are allowed to field any of the players registered during this period for the rescheduled match.
The winner of the match will play South Africa for a place in the group stage of the Confederation Cup.
CAF Confederation Cup
Good start for Confederation Cup defending champions, Zamalek
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
CAF Confederation Cup
Enyimba continues unbeaten run against Burkina Faso clubs
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.
CAF Confederation Cup
Enyimba drawn against Etoile de Filante in Confederation Cup
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.
-
AFCON1 week ago
Super Eagles lead Afcon Group D qualifiers despite Benin’s defeat of Libya
-
AFCON1 week ago
Austin Eguavoen remains the ‘Big Boss’, says NFF
-
AFCON1 week ago
Why I benched Osimhen again – Eguavoen
-
AFCON1 week ago
Rwanda newspaper gives 5 lessons gleaned from Rwanda-Nigeria clash
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
Westerhof recommends Siasia for Super Eagles’ job
-
AFCON1 week ago
Nigeria’s managerial crisis resumes as Eguavoen reportedly declines to continue
-
AFCON1 week ago
Present and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen
-
CAF Confederation Cup6 days ago
Enyimba continues unbeaten run against Burkina Faso clubs