Enugu Rangers have qualified for the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup as they held the Tunisian side, Club Sportif (CS) Sfaxien to a barren draw in the decisive play-off encounter at the Stade Taeib Mhiri in Sfax, Tunisia to go through on 1-0 aggregate.
The first fixture a fortnight ago at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu ended 1-0 in favour of the Coal City side with the scorer, Ugonna Uzochukwu bagging a red card for his wild celebration of the goal.
Rangers defensive midfielder, Uzochukwu said he is the happiest person at the moment over the club’s qualification to the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup in Tunisia.
“I am excited with the good news of our qualification to the group stage of the competition. I just finished reading a text message that the game in Tunisia ended in a barren draw.
“I am the happiest person at the moment happier than the players that achieved the landmark record.
“I missed the game due to card suspension after scoring the side’s lone goal in Enugu that has proved to be the match winner and ticket to the group stage.
“I am sure more work will be done on the side now that we have qualified for the group stage which makes Rangers the team to beat.
“I make bold to say that Rangers have the team to win the CAF Confederation Cup title for Nigeria this time around as compensation for their elimination from the CAF Champions League competition,” he said.
This third round, second leg match, which was watched by 7,000 spectators, saw CS Sfaxien’s Ben Youseff Fakhereedine lose a penalty in the 39th minute.
Other qualifiers for the mini-league round of the second-tier CAF competition are 2011 winners Stade Malien from Mali, TP Mazembe from DR Congo, Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia and Fath Union Sport Rabat of Morocco.
The draw will now be conducted to divide these teams into two groups of four teams each with the top two teams from each section advancing to the semi-finals to be played on a knockout basis.
