CAIRO – Egyptian duo Future FC and Pyramids FC claimed victories in the first-leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second preliminary round.
At the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in Monrovia, Sierra Leone, Future FC stunned Sierra Leone’s FC Kallon 2-0.
Striker Marwan Mohsen opened the scoring for Future FC in the 48th minutes as winger Moustafa el-Badri added the second in stoppage time.
At Cairo’s Air Defence Stadium, Pyramids FC defeated Hilal al-Sahil of Sudan 2-0 in the competition’s second preliminary round.
Tunisia international striker Fakhreddine Ben Youssef opened the scoring in the 10th minute as winger Moustafa Fathi added the second in the 78th minute.
Pyramids FC will play the second-leg on October 15 at the Air Defence Stadium as well because Hilal al-Sahil lacks an international-standard stadium.
Elsewhere, Renaissance Berkane of Morocco made a losing start to their CAF Confederation Cup title defence by going down 3-1 to Kwara United of Nigeria, AFP reported.
Seeking to win the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League a third time in four seasons, Berkane made a perfect start with Burkinabe Cheikh Ouattara giving them an early lead.
Known as the Orange Boys because the club is based in the citrus growing northeast region, Berkane held the advantage for 64 minutes before Taofeeq Ahmed levelled.
The goal inspired Kwara, who laid siege to the Berkane goalmouth during the closing stages in Lagos and Wadiu Jimoh and Barnabas Daniel netted to offer hope of a shock aggregate victory.
Renaissance will host the return match next Saturday at the 10,000-seat Stade Municipal, where the Moroccans have overturned many first-leg deficits.
Berkane travelled to Nigeria in a confident mood having shocked fellow Moroccans Wydad Casablanca 2-0 last month to lift the CAF Super Cup for the first time.
As title-holders, Berkane was exempt from the Confederation Cup preliminary round while Kwara overcame modest AS Douanes of Niger 3-0 on aggregate.
The other Moroccan contenders, 2005 Confederation Cup winners FAR Rabat, were too strong for AngloGold Ashanti Golden Boys of Guinea and built a 4-0 first-leg lead.
A top-12 ranking based on past results also permitted Nigeria to enter two teams but African rookies Remo Stars lost at home to FAR in a preliminary tie after drawing away.
South African clubs had mixed fortunes with Marumo Gallants winning 3-1 away to Elgeco Plus of Madagascar while Royal AM were held 0-0 at home by Zesco United of Zambia.
Marumo have struggled in the national league this season, winning only one of nine matches, and French coach Romain Folz quit when club officials allegedly interfered in team selections.
The side from northern city Polokwane also sold star midfielder Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo to Orlando Pirates in a surprise move given their early season form.
But Gallants impressed in Antananarivo and took a two-goal lead within 21 minutes against Elgeco, who shocked PWD Bamenda of Cameroon last month.
Meanwhile, former African giants Hearts of Oak from Ghana was humbled 3-0 by Real Bamako of Mali in the first-leg.
The home side led 2-0 at half-time and completed the win 15 minutes from time to leave the Accra outfit with a difficult second-leg task next Sunday.
Ibourahima Sidibe opened the scoring after just 11 minutes and Denis Korsah conceded an own goal before the break.
After Hearts twice came close to reducing the deficit, Cheickna Diakite was given time and space by the tiring Ghanaians to net the third goal in Bamako.
Scoring three times will boost Real morale in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League as they failed to score at home or away in a preliminary tie settled by a penalty shootout.
Hearts won three CAF competitions — the Champions League, Super Cup and Confederation Cup — between 2000 and 2004 and a bright future seemed ahead.
But they failed to build on their successes and if fall to Real, African powerhouses Ghana will have no representative in the group phase of the 2023 CAF club competitions.
The sacking of head coach Samuel Boadu after a winless three-match start to the domestic league disrupted Hearts’ preparations with assistant David Ocloo taking charge.
Azam of Tanzania was another club to suffer a 3-0 away loss, conceding three goals to Al Akhdar of Libya during the final minutes of the opening half in Benghazi.
Ferroviario Beira of Mozambique, one of the less fancied challengers, came from behind to beat Diables Noirs of Congo Brazzaville 2-1 in Maputo with Nigerian Oghenemarho Ifoni scoring twice.
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