CAF Confederation Cup
Suspension, Injury knock out Four Zesco Stars
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Troubled Enugu Rangers may get a breather when they face Zambia’s Zesco United in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup play off on Sunday.
At least four regular players of Zesco United will miss the match slated for the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
According to Zambia’s Daily Mail, striker Idris Mbombo is ruled out on account of accumulating two yellow cards in the competition.
Three other players are ruled out owing to injuries. They are striker Jackson Mwanza and midfielders: Misheck Chaila and Simon Silwimba.
The suspended Mbombo scored five of the goals in last year’s CAF Champions League in which Zesco got to the semi final stage.
He will however be available in the return leg in Ndola.
Zambia Daily Mail quoting the Serbian coach of the club, Zlatko Krmpotic, to be lamenting the absence of the four players who ordinarily, would have been in the starting line-up.
“But this is football and we need to prepare other players to play in Nigeria. It is a very important game for us in Nigeria,” Krmpotic said.
He said Zesco will not look down on Enugu Rangers. “This is a footballing country (Nigeria); Enugu is a good team, champions of Nigeria. We must go there with respect but I think Zesco have a chance to go into the group phase. Every game we go to win but this is football,” Krmpotic said.
Mwanza was injured during last Thursday’s Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu Charity Shield semi-final 4-2 win over Power Dynamos in Kitwe.
Defensive midfielder Misheck Chaila sustained an injury on national team duty while Silwimba limped off in the Confederation Cup first round first leg against Burundian side Le Messager Ngozi.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football has appointed Senegalese referee Issa Sy to officiate the Enugu versus Zesco match.
Algeria’s USM Alger continues to battle in what looked an hopeless situation in a bid to upturn a decision of the Committee for the Organization of Interclub Competitions and the Management of the Club Licensing System which awarded the first leg match of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final duel to the visiting RS Berkane of Morocco.
The continental body on Friday confirmed the verdict of the Organising Committee and thus threw away the appeal by Algeria.
The Appeal Committee of CAF rejected the Algerian club’s requests.
The USM Algiers club delegation has arrived Morocco through the the Oujda-Angad airport. They were warmly welcome by Moroccan officials led by Belaqchour, the President of the professional national league.
The team arrived at around 5 p.m., aboard a special plane from Algiers. Also on hand to receive them were officials of Berkane officials.
It took the Algerians just 15 minutes from landing to leaving the airport. They were greeted by a large number of fans.
The Algerians have an Herculean task of overturning a 3-0 deficit awarded to RS Berkane in the botched first leg match. The return leg match will hold on Sunday at the Berkane municipal stadium at 8 p.m.
The decision to play the second leg in Berkane comes as USM Alger seeks to avoid additional sanctions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which could include a ban from participating in African competitions for up to four years.
Ghana’s Dreams FC coach, Karim Zito, announced on Friday that he is diligently preparing his players for a potential penalty shootout against Zamalek in the second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final, scheduled for Sunday.
The first leg match concluded with a goalless draw between the two teams in Cairo last week, and the upcoming second leg will take place in Kumasi, ultimately determining the team that will qualify for the final.
“We ended with penalty shootouts, and out of the twenty-four (24) players, only three (3) of them could not score, so we are ready if it comes down to penalties,” Zito stated during an interview with Kumasi-based Akoma FM.
He further added, “Let me say that we are hoping to secure qualification in regulation time on Sunday.”
During the first leg game in Cairo, Zamalek missed several clear goal-scoring opportunities, leaving them with no alternative but to avoid a loss in Ghana in order to advance to the final of the competition.
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