2012.03.05 17:29:40

Tunde

The Orange CAF African Champions League concluded its second round of qualifiers last weekend and there were some impressive results and the setting up of some real eye-watering ties for the next round.

APR of Rwanda (a team founded on the nation’s military background) scaled through at the expense of favourites Tusker FC of Kenya. Having battled to a scoreless draw in Nairobi, APR got the 1-0 win needed to secure a place in the next round. They will, though, face a tricky two-legged duel with former African champions Etoile du Sahel from Tunisia, to advance to the next stage.

Same goes for Birkama FC from Gambia – a team that, despite the looming crisis in their football stemming from the Gambian government’s dissolution of its Football Association, beat AS Ouakam of Senegal in dramatic fashion. Having lost, as was expected, the first leg in the Gambia by 1-0 to the Senegalese, many thought the return leg in Dakar was a mere rubberstamp for the Senegalese side. But Birkama went to Dakar and recorded a surprise 1-0 away win to level on aggregates, and went on to win the ensuing penalty shoot-out.

It was a great result for a nation that is yet unsure as to what sanction they will face as a result of the government’s action.

The reward for Birkama is a mouth-watering two legged affair against holders Esperance of Tunisia.

Dolphins FC from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a club embroiled in a scandal domestically, having been found guilty of match-fixing in a local league game recently, put its troubles aside and recorded an emphatic result. The Nigerian champions trounced Equatorial Guinea’s Sony de la Nguema FC 3-0 in a second leg game, after they had won the first leg in Malabo by the same margin.

This result seemingly brought back down to earth, the Equatorial Guineans who might still have been basking in the euphoria of having hosted and played in its first Africa Cup of Nations, and reaching the quarter finals.

Dolphins would have to recover quickly and battle Coton Sport from Northern Cameroon, to secure a place in the final round of qualifying.

There was an early casualty for giants Orlando Pirates of South Africa, who could not overturn an unexpected 3-1 home reverse against little known Recreativo de Libolo from Angola. The second leg in Luanda ended 1-1.

Nigeria’s Sunshine Stars are the team that Libolo would play next.

A mouth-watering tie of the round has been set up between one-time giants Power Dynamo from Zambia and former champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo.