In a statement made available to The Citizen
yesterday, clubs that made it past the preliminary round have been urged
to continue lifting the regional flags high when they face their next
opponents.
“Cecafa wishes to congratulate its member
association clubs that made it to the next round of both the Orange CAF
Champions League and the Orange CAF Confederations Cup. To all other
clubs that bowed out of the competitions in the preliminary rounds, you
are urged to look back to the possible mistakes and work on them for
future results.
“Special thanks to debutant South Sudan’s Atlabara
FC for a respected exit against Ghana’s Berekum Chelsea,”, read the
communique for CECAFA. Atlabara who were making their first appearance
since South Sudan joined the Cecafa family won 2-0 in Juba before losing
on the same margin in Accra. Their ejection followed a 3-0 loss on
penalties. Apart from Yanga and Kenya’s Gor Mahia, other clubs include
Kampala City Council (KCC) of Uganda, Burundi’s Flambeau de l’EST FC,
Dedebit FC of Ethiopia, AS Kigali of Rwanda and Al Hilal of Sudan.
Yanga eliminated Comoro’s Comorozine de Domoni
12-2 on goal aggregate to qualify for the first round of the Champions
League and set a tricky assignment with defending champions Al Ahly of
Egypt.
Gor Mahia edged US Bitam of Gabon on spot kicks
after a 1-0 draw, and KCC saw off El-Merreikh of Sudan on a 3-2
aggregate while Burundi’s Flambeau de I’EST FC eliminated Congo’s
Diables Noir with 2-1 goal aggregate.
Ethiopia’s Dedebit FC also sailed through after outshining KMKM of Zanzibar with a 3-2 advantage.
Also in the first round are Kenya’s AFC Leopards,
who bundled Defence SC (Ethiopia) out of the Confederation Cup, and AS
Kigali of Rwanda advanced at the expense of a Burundian side.
Al-Hilal of Sudan are also through to the next round.
Mulindwa heaped praise on the clubs, saying they
have done the tremendous job and believe they will reach far if they
continue with intensive training and deeply focus in the competitions.
“They have done the big job but they must train
even harder if they want to shine in the next round, which seems to be
tough,” the Cecafa official added.
Yanga, who returned home yesterday from Comoro,
are expected to camp in Bagamoyo, Coast Region ahead of next month’s
first round, first leg of the African Champions League against Al Ahly
at the National Stadium.
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