The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
FT: St. George ?? 0 ?? KCCA FC 0
Addia Ababa | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala Capital City Authority FC has held fancied St.George of Ethiopia to a goalless draw on Wednedsay in the CAF Champions League.
The draw brings to an end successive defeats on the continent for Mike Mutebi’s side in the past year, and puts them in a strong position to advance at home, where they have a perfect win record.
Collated CAF Champions League last-32, first-leg results Wednesday
Saint George (ETH) 0 KCCA (UGA) 0
Zanaco (ZAM) 1 (Maisha 42) Mbabane Swallows (SWZ) 2 (Badenhorst 56, McCreesh 86)
Wydad Casablanca (MAR, holders) 7 (Aoulad 6, Tighazoui 16, 62, Nahiri 52, El Haddad 74, 90, 90+2) Williamsville (CIV) 2 (N’Da 3, 36)
Aduana Stars (GHA) 1 (Adams 72-pen) Entente Setif (ALG) 0
MFM (NGR) 2 (Akuneto 36-pen, Monsuru 84) Mouloudia Alger (ALG) 1 (Ammachi 58)
Gor Mahia (KEN) 0 Esperance (TUN) 0
Port (TOG) 2 (Sewonou 42, Bode 78) Al Hilal (SUD) 0
Zesco Utd (ZAM) 0 ASEC Mimosas (CIV) 1 (Agbegniadan 37)
TP Mazembe (COD) 4 (Malango 37, 49, 68, Elia 85) Songo (MOZ) 0
Difaa el Jadida (MAR) 1 (Msuva 9) V Club (COD) 0
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) 1 (Geraldo 84) Wits (RSA) 0
Rayon Sports (RWA) 0 Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA) 0
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MATCH PREVIEW
Record Ethiopian soccer champions St George welcome Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA FC) in a CAF Champions League match that they will be lucky to get a point from.
While KCCA have relied mainly on home form for their success on the continent in the past year, they have had a look at their host’s recent win-less run and have reason to be confident going into today’s game.
St. George, whose last outing was away to Hawassa who hammered them 4-1 in the Ethiopian league, are struggling to get back to their renown form after the arrival of a new coach, Portuguese Manuel Vaz Pinto. They have lost their last five matches.
“We are now in a transition phase. Last season it was Mart Nooji now Vaz Pinto and the two have different approach to the game. Our style of play is different from last season. We need time to adapt to the system that we are putting up,” an assistant coach told SoccerEthiopia recently.
Contrast that with the confidence coming out of the KCCA camp. “I think our boys are more confident that this time we are going to get a win an away game. We have no worry because our team has traveled across the African continent last season and we have managed play big super powers in African football,” Assistant coach Morley Byekwaso told SoccerEthiopia.
Coach Mike Mutebi is confident his side can improve on their performance last year, where he led them to the group stages of the CAF Confederations Cup.
“The fulcrum that we had last season is still with us, my players are young but with experienced. They deserve to be playing on the continent,” he said after their last continental match, a 1-0 (2-2 aggregate) victory over CNaPS Sport last month.
Winners in the CAF Champions League last-32, two leg matches qualify for the group stages. The return matches are set for March 17.
Colourful presentation of @SaintGeorgefcv fans during the match against @KCCAFC #ethiopia #adwa #CAFCL pic.twitter.com/D9bhl9fHuH
— Hana Gebresilassie (@HanaGebres) March 7, 2018
Fixtures
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
Al Ahly (EGY) 4 (Mohsen 14, Azaro 22, El Said 66, 69-pen) Mounana (GAB) 0
Horoya (GUI) 2 (Ouedraogo 60, Diop 90+1) Generation Foot (SEN) 1 (Konte 77)
Young Africans (TAN) 1 (Chirwa 31) Township Rollers (BOT) 2 (Tshireletso 11, Sikele 85)
Etoile Sahel (TUN) 4 (Marey 1, Chermiti 3, 7, Sfaxi 54) Plateau Utd (NGR) 2 (Raphael 70-pen, Omoyele 81)
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
Saint George (Ethiopia) vs KCCA (Uganda)
Zanaco (Zambia) vs Mbabane Swallows (Swaziland)
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) vs Williamsville AC (Cote d’Ivoire)
Aduana (Ghana) vs ES Setif (Algeria)
MFM (Nigeria) vs MC Alger (Algeria)
Gor Mahia (Kenya) vs Esperance (Tunisia)
AS Togo (Togo) vs El Hilal (Sudan)
Zesco (Zambia) vs ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’Ivoire)
TP Mazembe (DR Congo) vs UD Songo (Mozambique)
Difaa Hassan (Morocco) vs AS Vita (DR Congo)
Primeiro de Agosto (Angola) vs Bidvest (South Africa)
Rayon Sports (Rwanda) vs Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
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Al Ahly launch CAF campaign with four-goal romp
Record eight-time title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt are virtually assured of a 2018 CAF Champions League group place after trouncing Mounana of Gabon 4-0 Tuesday.
It took the Cairo “Red Devils” just 14 minutes to end the last-32 first leg stalemate in the Egyptian capital as Marwan Mohsen scored and Moroccan Walid Azaro doubled the lead before half-time.
Egypt midfielder Abdallah el Said netted twice within three minutes midway through the second half with his second goal coming from a penalty kick.
Mounana will have home advantage in the return match during the weekend of March 16-18, but Ahly have never surrendered a four-goal lead during five decades of competing in Africa.
Ahly coach Hossam el Badry warned his team before the first leg that he did not want a repeat of last year when they battled to overcome Wits of South Africa at the same stage.
His message was heeded as the Red Devils dominated from start to finish, transferring into Africa their superb domestic form of 14 consecutive victories.
Ahly lost 2-1 on aggregate to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco in the 2017 final — the first time they have gone more than three years this century without winning the competition.
Assuming they eliminate Mounana, Ahly and 15 other last-32 winners will be divided into four groups from which the table-toppers and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.
Former champions Etoile Sahel of Tunisia, the only winners of all five current and past CAF club competitions, also scored four goals at home in Mediterranean resort Sousse.
However, after grabbing three goals within seven minutes of the kick-off and a fourth soon after half-time they conceded twice to finish 4-2 winners over Plateau United of Nigeria.
The Nigerian goals from Ayagwa Raphael, off a penalty, and Tosin Omoyele during the last 20 minutes leave the tie delicately balanced ahead of the second leg in Jos.
Egyptian Amr Marey scored for Etoile within 60 seconds, Amine Chermiti bagged a brace and Aymen Sfaxi gave the 2007 champions a four-goal advantage nine minutes after half-time.
Plateau are competing in the Champions League for the first time and hope to become the first winners from Nigeria since Enyimba completed back-to-back triumphs in 2004.
Township Rollers of Botswana, who eliminated favoured Al Merrikh of Sudan in the preliminary round, sprang another surprise by winning 2-1 away to Young Africans of Tanzania.
Lemponye Tshireletso gave Rollers an early lead, Zimbabwean Obrey Chirwa levelled before the break and Motsholetsi Sikele struck the winner five minutes from time in Dar es Salaam.
Rollers, who never qualified for the group stage in eight previous attempts, need a draw at home to become the first club from Botswana to achieve the feat.
Sidy Diop netted in the first minute of stoppage time to snatch a 2-1 home win for Horoya of Guinea over Generation Foot of Senegal in a west African showdown.
Another 12 first legs are scheduled for Wednesday, including Wydad beginning their defence of the title at home to Williamsville of the Ivory Coast.
