Zamalek, Rivers United headline Confederation Cup action

by Staff Reporter

Saturday Apr 06, 2024. 15:00

Zamalek and Rivers United will headline the action in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday 7 April, as second-leg, quarterfinal matches are played across the continent.

Zamalek are well placed to advance into the final four, as they welcome fellow Egyptian side Modern Future to the Cairo International Stadium and look to build on a 2-1 aggregate lead established in the first leg last weekend.

The White Knights have two away goals in the bag thanks to Hamza Mathlouthi and Ahmed Zizo Sayed, and coach Jose Gomes believes his team will not only secure progression into the semifinals, but go on to win the continental competition.

“Zamalek can win the Confederation Cup title, and the players can do their best in the coming period,” said the Portuguese, who added that he “wasn’t happy” with the first-leg performance despite the victory.

Rivers, meanwhile, will take a narrow 1-0 lead to Algiers for their clash with USM Alger. Augustine Okejepha’s early strike in the first-leg match in Uyo has given the Nigerian club a strong foothold in the tie, though coach Stanley Eguma acknowledges that they could and should have established a greater advantage.

“One would have expected that the boys would have continued that way because we had a lot of scoring chances that early in the game. But unfortunately we couldn’t convert our chances,” said Eguma, whose side will hope to repel an inevitable siege from the hosts at Stade du 5 Juillet.

Ghana’s Dreams FC will back themselves to see off Stade Malien in Kumasi, having secured a priceless 2-1 away win in Bamako (courtesy of a brace from John Antwi), while the clash between hosts RS Berkane and Libya’s Abu Salim in Morocco is balanced on a knife edge after a 0-0 draw in the first-leg encounter.

The four aggregate winners will advance to the semifinals, which are scheduled to be held on the last two weekends of April.

CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal, second-leg fixtures

Times CAT, first leg scores in parenthesis

Sunday 7 April

18:00: Dreams FC v Stade Malien (2-1)

21:00: Zamalek v Modern Future (2-1)

23:00: USM Alger v Rivers United (0-1)

23:00: RS Berkane v Abu Salim (0-0)