CAF Confederation Cup
RANGERS RETURN TO NORTH AFRICA
After Rangers elimination of Algeria’s USM Bel Abbes in the opening round of the CAF Confederation, the Nigerian cup holders will still make two more journeys to North Africa as the Group Draw of the competition has pitched the club with two Tunisian sides – Etoile du Sahel and CS Sfaxien.
The fourth team of the group is Salitas of Burkina Faso. They are all in Group B. Just as Group B has two Tunisian clubs, so also Group A which has the same colouration of pitching three clubs from the same countries.
Holders Raja Club Athletic was drawn in the same group with fellows RS Berkane and Hassania Agadir in Group A. The odd team of the group is AS Otoho of Congo.
. The outcome
serves a replica of the 2012 edition of the second-tier continental club
championship when three Sudanese team; Al Merreikh, Al Hilal and Ahly Shendi
were in the same group. The other team was Interclube of Angola.
It was the highlight of the draw held on Monday at the CAF Headquarters in
Cairo, Egypt. Former Cameroon forward Patrick Mboma assisted the draw process conducted
by CAF Deputy General Secretary Anthony Baffoe.
Whilst Group A had three teams from the same country, it was a near similar
situation in Group B and Group C, with two teams from the same countries.
Tunisian duo Etoile du Sahel and CS Sfaxien are in Group B alongside Enugu
Rangers of Nigeria and surprise packets, Salitas, from Burkina Faso.
In Group C, Zambia has two clubs – Nkana and Zesco, with Asante Kotoko (Ghana)
and Hilal (Sudan) the other teams. For Kotoko and Hilal, they have old scores
to settle after being in the same group for the maiden edition of the CAF
Confederation Cup in 2004.
Five-time African champion Zamalek of Egypt leads the line-up in Group B. The
rest are Kenyan champions Gor Mahia, Petro Atletico of Angola and Algeria’s NA
Hussein Dey.
Below are the details of the draw;
Group A – Hassania Agadir
(Morocco), AS Otoho (Congo), RS Berkane (Morocco), Raja (Morocco)
Group B – Etoile du Sahel
(Tunisia), Rangers (Nigeria), Salitas (Burkina Faso), CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
Group C – Zesco (Zambia), Al
Hilal (Sudan), Asante Kotoko (Ghana), Nkana (Zambia)
Group D – Gor Mahia (Kenya), NA
Hussein Dey (Algeria), Petro Atletico (Angola), Zamalek (Egypt)
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
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY5 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- 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
- feature5 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu