CAF Confederation Cup
Five-goal thriller highlights CAF Interclub opener
The start of the 2024/25 CAF Inter-club Season got off to a flying start on Friday with six fixtures to mark the start of what promises to be another thrilling season of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
The start of the season was highlighted by a high scoring encounters, signalling a strong statement of intent for clubs this season as they take aim at continental glory.
In the CAF Champions League, Djibouti’s Arta Solar7 started off their campaign on shaky ground after being subjected to a disappointing 2-0 loss at home to Dekadaha FC of Somalia.
Eswatini’s Mbabane Swallows had to dig deep in a match played in Pretoria, South Africa as they edged Clube Ferroviario Da Beira of Mozambique by a hard-fought 1-0 win ahead of next weekend’s return leg in Mozambique.
Milo FC will have a tough task getting a result next weekend after FC Nouadhibou, last season’s debutants showed their experience in holding them to a goalless draw.
Meanwhile in the CAF Confederation Cup, Tunisia’s Stade Tunisien were happy travellers after securing a hard-fought 1-0 win over Jamus FC of South Sudan.
The highest scoring match of the day was in Uganda when Kitara FC played host to Libyan powerhouse Al Hilal in a five-goal thriller, that saw the Libyans walk away 3-2 victors ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Burundi’s Rukinzo FC will be satisfied with their travels after holding Somalia’s Horseed FC to a goalless draw.
CAF Champions League First Preliminary Results:
Arta Solar7 (Djibouti) 0 – 2 Dekadaha FC (Somalia)
Milo FC (Guinea) 0 – 0 FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania)
Mbabane Swallows (Eswatini) 1 – 0 Clube Ferroviario Da Beira (Mozambique)
CAF Confederation Cup First Preliminary Results:
Jamus FC (South Sudan) 0 – 1 Stade Tunisien (Tunisia)
Kirara FC (Uganda) 2 – 3 Al Hilal (Libya)
Horseseed FC (Somalia) 0 – 0 Rukinzo FC (Burundi)
CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup action continues throughout the weekend, with more exciting fixtures scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday across the continent.
CAF Champions League Fixtures – CLICK HERE
CAF Confederation Cup Fixtures – CLICK HERE
-CAF
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.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Heineken Unites Nigeria’s “Hardcore Fans” for Champions League Semi-Final Showdowns
Abdulfatai, Udoaka top seedings for 2025 National Table Tennis Championships in Osun
Gov. Abiodun extols Remo Stars over unprecedented victory
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- Nigerian Football5 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- OBITUARY7 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- U-17 AFCON1 week ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- feature7 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football5 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu