NPFL Champions Rivers United will be Nigeria’s sole representative at the group stage of this season’s CAF Confederation Cup, http://aclsports.com reports.
The second legs of the CAFCC final qualifying round were concluded on Wednesday as both Rivers United and Plateau United travelled to Libya with healthy leads to face Al Akhdar and El Nasr respectively.
However, the trip to Libya started on a disappointing note, as Plateau United bottled a 4-1 lead from the first leg to crash out to debutants Al Akhdar in dramatic fashion at the Martyrs of February stadium.
FT: Al Akhdar (Libya) 3-0 Plateau United (4-4 on aggregate)
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The Libyans advance to the group stage of #TotalEnergiesCAFCC on away goals rule courtesy of three second half goals.
Up next, Rivers United face Al Nasr Benghazi on same turf at 8pm Nigerian time. pic.twitter.com/m8kHt4vp8L
— Fisayo Dairo (@FisayoDairo) November 9, 2022
The game was evenly balanced at halftime before the Peace Boys imploded in the final half-hour of the game. They conceded two goals in the final seven minutes of action and were subsequently knocked out of the competition via the away goals rule.
In the evening game involving El Nasr and Rivers United played at the same venue, the NPFL champions held their own, having brought a 5-nil first leg lead into the contest.
Abdul Selam Al Fitouri scored the opener for the Libyan side in the 39th minute before former Kano Pillars forward Nyima Nwagua skillfully directed a low cross from Emmanuel Ampiah home to level the game in the 57th minute.
#CAFCC Playoff Round — FULL TIME ↘️
Al-Nasr Benghazi (Libya) 1-1 Rivers Utd {1-6Agg}.
The NPFL champions are through to the group stages of CAF second-tier club competition.
Plateau Utd, Remo Stars & Kwara Utd all "Lule" during the preliminaries.
Congrats @RiversUnitedFC! pic.twitter.com/3Z03APWotC
— Adepoju Tobi Samuel 🇳🇬 (@OgaNlaMedia) November 9, 2022
Rivers United were resolute at the back and wanted to leave Libya without a defeat. In the end, Stanley Eguma’s side made it and will be playing in the group stage of the Confed. Cup for the first time since 2017.
Meanwhile, the CAF Confederation Cup Group Stage draw will be conducted on Wednesday, 16 November 2022 in Cairo, Egypt.
Results
Al Akhdar 3-0 Plateau United (agg 4-4)
El Nasr 1-1 Rivers United (agg 1-6)
