It was a tale of mix fortunes for Nigerian teams in CAF club competitions on Sunday as two of the country’s flag bearers secured passage into the next round while two others were sent packing.
Enugu Rangers and Rivers United, who are campaigning in the elite CAF Champions League, qualified for the next phase; albeit in different fashion.
Rivers United turned on style at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium where they pounded the AS Real Bamako team 4-0.
Both teams had played a barren draw in the reverse fixture in Bamako and Sunday’s game was anybody’s to take.
Coach Stanley Eguma’s team took their chances in their Champions League clash and for their effort they have moved to the next phase where they will be up against Sudanese side, Al-Merrikh.
For Rangers, they were only able to edge out their Algerian opponents JS Saoura via the away goals’ rule as Sunday’s game in Enugu ended goalless.
Rangers were lucky to have played out a 1-1 draw in last weekend’s first leg game in Algeria, hence the 0-0 score fromSunday’s game was just enough to see them through. The reigning Nigeria League champions will now face Egyptian giants, Zamalek, in the next round.
In the Confederation Cup however, it was a disappointing weekend as the two teams representing the country, Wikki Tourists and FC Ifeanyi Ubah, crashed out.
The Anambra Warriors lost 0-3 on penalties in Egypt after they were tied 1-1 on aggregate against their Egyptian opponent, El-Masry.
For Wikki, though they won 1-0 in Bauchi on Sunday, it was not enough as the team from Sierra Leone, RSLAF FC qualified via a 2-1 aggregate score.
The early exit means Nigeria’s long wait to win the CAF Confederation Cup has been extended by another year at least.
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