Duro Ikhazuagbe
Rivers United FC narrowly escaped into the Group Stage of the CAF Confederation Cup after scoring two late goals against Burkina Faso’s Etoile Filante.
The 2-0 result of the second leg of the second round of the preliminary stage didn’t tell the exact story of how Rivers United subjected Port Harcourt fans to deep agony of frustration.
After missing two penalty kicks 15 minutes to regulation time, it was thought that it was finished for Rivers United as a penalty kick shootout was looming as aggregate scorelines over two legs still stood at 0-0.
Sad memories of their last season’s encounter with Tanzania’s Young Africans started flooding.
With just a minute left, Alex Oyowah scored. Nine minutes into the added time, Oyowah made it a brace as he converted from the spot to give United a 2-0 win and the ticket to the group stage.
Meanwhile, the draw for the group stage will be held on 6 October 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying matches will be drawn into four groups of four teams.
Teams that have already qualified for the group stages of the 2023-24 CAF Confederation Cup include; Diables Noirs (Congo), Sagrada Esperança (Angola), Future FC (Egypt), Club Africain (Tunisia), Dreams FC (Ghana), Académie SOAR (Guinea), Abu Salim (Libya), Al Hilal Benghazi (Libya), Stade Malien (Mali), Sekhukhune United F.C. (South Africa) and SuperSport United FC (South Africa).
