Gor, Sharks Stamp Kenya's Authority On CAF Champions League, Confed Cup

NAIROBI, Kenya- SportPesa Premier League (SPL) champions, Gor Mahia FC are on the verge of history after taking a giant step towards qualifying for the lucrative 2018/19 CAF Champions League group stages.

At the same time, domestic rivals and debutants Kariobangi Sharks FC have all to do in the return leg of their CAF Confederations Cup preliminary round face-off against the might of Kumasi Asante Kotoko FC, as Kenyan sides remained alive on the continental football arena.

After years of underachievement in CAF competitions, Gor and Sharks who won the SPL and SportPesa Shield titles last term in that order, have shown signs the country’s club football is alive after beating Lobi Stars FC of Nigeria 3-1 and giving Kotoko a huge scare in a barren draw over the weekend.

Their encouraging performances against more-established teams continued the feel-good factor in the domestic game, coming hot on the heels of Kenya’s qualification to the 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals- having taken 15 years for national team Harambee Stars to dine at the high table of continental football.

Speaking to SportPesa News on Monday, Jack Oguda, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenyan Premier League attributed the upturn on fortunes on the emphasis local clubs are placing on making an impact in African football.

“The clubs are investing on the playing unit than before. Young talent is coming up and we are allowing them to be flexible with fixtures to avoid congestion,” Oguda remarked.

He hailed Football Kenya Federation for providing a conducive platform for teams involved in continental matters to pursue their dream of putting together a deep run in their competitions.

“There is no interference from the federation. The league is running more smoothly and better. The input of sponsors is also critical,” he added.

Oguda backed Gor to finish the job against Lobi in Nigeria while stating Sharks have the ability to complete ‘a miracle’ in Ghana against the Porcupine Warriors from Kotoko. 

Last season, record 17-time league winners Gor came within a point of playing in the quarterfinals of the 2017/18 Confed Cup when they became the first local side to qualify for the group stages of the rebranded second-tier competition.

This is after they extended Champions League holders Esperance de Tunis in their first round clash that ended in a barren draw at the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos before the Tunisian giants employed the dark arts in the second leg to scrape through with a slim 1-0 victory at their Rades Stadium fortress.

That K’Ogalo who had been massacred 8-2 on aggregate in their previous Champions League first round meeting against Esperance in 2014 could run the now three-time winners so close was an promising sign that the sleeping giant of East African football was starting to wake.

Fixture pile-up

After heartbreak in Tunis, Gor went on to eliminate former South Africa league winners, SuperSport United FC in the Confed Cup play-off to punch their ticket to the group stages where they were pooled alongside USM Alger (Algeria), Rayon Sport (Rwanda) and neighbouring titans, Yanga SC of Tanzania.

Faced with a backbreaking fixture pile-up, their defence of the SportPesa Cup, involvement in the CECAFA Club Championship, landmark friendly against English side, Hull City FC and Shield commitments, Gor were leading Group D standings ahead of the final round of fixtures where they faced a daunting trip to Algiers to play USMA.

A 1-2 defeat on August 29 brought K’Ogalo’s (eight) brave run in the competition to an end, with Rayon (nine) edging them out to join the Algerians (11) in the quarterfinal draw as Yanga (four) propped Group D.

On Sunday, Gor turned on the style against Lobi to establish a healthy 3-1 advantage in the first leg of the Champions League first round showdown in Nairobi, to bring them on the verge of making the group stages of the re-formatted competition.

It was a better-than-expected result for the SPL giants after they struggled to overcome Nyasa Big Bullets of Malawi in the preliminary round, scraping through 4-3 on penalties after their two-legged affair ended 1-1 on aggregate.

Gor need to score an away goal in Nigeria this weekend to cancel the one Lobi fashioned in the first half of their racing encounter at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Kenyan clubs have failed to reach the group stage since its introduction in 1997, but having come so close last season, there is hope Gor could finally crack it under new head coach, Cypriot Hassan Oktay, who was only in charge of his second game since his confirmation as Kerr’s successor last week.

Rwandan Jacques Tuyisenge gave Gor a sixth-minute lead before a Samuel Onyango brace extended the advantage; his second coming after Mathias Samuel had halved the deficit.

Five former winners of the competition were in action and four won at home while the other drew away.

V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 1973 champions, look set for the group stage after hammering minnows Bantu of Lesotho 4-1 in Kinshasa.

Makusu brace

Jean-Marc Makusu, runner-up in the CAF Confederation Golden Boot race last season with 11 goals, bagged a brace for the Congolese.

Kariobangi Sharks FC attacker, George Abege, in action against Asante Kotoko during their CAF Confederations Cup first round opening fixture at MISC, Kasarani on December 15, 2018. PHOTO/Kariobangi Sharks FC

Tunisians Club Africain, who were African champions 27 years ago, came from behind to defeat Al Hilal of Sudan 3-1 in the Tunis suburb of Rades.

The hosts had the narrowest of leads until Oussema Darragi scored a potentially crucial third goal one minute into stoppage time.

Ismaily, whose 1969 triumph was the first in the competition by an Egyptian club, won 2-0 at home to Coton Sport of Cameroon with Baher el Mohamadi and Karim Bambo scoring.

Five-time African champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo managed only a 1-0 win over Zambian club Zesco United in Lubumbashi with an early Jackson Muleka goal separating the sides.

Mamelodi Sundowns, who two years ago became the second South African winners of the Champions League, drew 0-0 away to Al Ahly Benghazi of Libya in Cairo.

Benghazi were forced to move the fixture to the Egyptian capital because of militia violence in their country.

AS Otoho of Congo Brazzaville, who shocked 2018 semi-finalists Primeiro Agosto of Angola in the preliminary round, were held 1-1 at home by FC Platinum of Zimbabwe.

Mamane Cisse gave the hosts an 18th-minute lead in the northern town of Owando and Lameck Namho levelled three minutes after half time.

The 15-second legs are scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday while defending champions Esperance December 28 group draw.

In the Confed Cup, Sharks have more to do and cause a monumental aspect in Kumasi after their more experienced visitors ground out a battling stalemate.

Coming on the back of a 9-1 win on aggregate over Arta Solar7 in the preliminary round, the Shield winners dominated possession in search for a famous victory only to come unstuck on their maiden campaign in continental football.

Their hopes hinge on their ability to find an away goal that would put the Ghanaians under pressure since William Muluya and his charges know too well that Kotoko will come at them and the team can draw inspiration from Kenya’s 1-0 stunning victory over Ghana in the 2019 AFCON qualifying.

The fact that the new domestic season kicked off on December 8 as the country seeks to harmonise her domestic league with the international calendar also played to the advantage of Gor and Sharks.

Previously, local side embarked on their continental campaign after an extended break but the quick turnaround between the end of last season in November and the start of the next meant the country’s representatives had no choice that to maintain match fitness.

Whatever the outcome this weekend, Kenyan clubs have once again become a topic of discussion across Africa and their fortunes in the Champions League and Confed Cup will be used as a barometer to measure the nation’s chances at the AFCON finals that start in June.

-Material from AFP was used in part of this report