FUS Rabat start with 3-0 win against KCCA FC

 FT: FUS Rabat 3 KCCA 0

Rabat, Morocco| KCCAFC MEDIA|  FUS Rabat started their Confederation Cup Group Stage campaign by beating  Kampala Capital City Authority Football Club (KCCA) 3-0 on Saturday.

It was not the start KCCA FC hoped for going into the opening game of the 2017 Total CAF Confederation Cup group A .

The Ugandan champions suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Stade du FUS in the coastal town of Rabat.

Missing key players in skipper Denis Okot  and goalie Benjamin Ochan (both suspended), Muzamir Mutyaba and Paul Mucureezi through injury, KCCA FC manager Mike Mutebi still managed to assemble a squad good enough to compete. (READ FULL STORY HERE)

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Collated CAF Confederation Cup matchday 1 results Sunday:

Group A

At Rades, Tunisia

Club Africain (TUN) 3 (Ifa 23, Darragi 45-pen, Douhadji 71-own goal) Rivers Utd (NGR) 1 (Odumegwu 53)

Saturday

At Rabat

FUS Rabat (MAR) 3 (El Bahri 7, Njie 43, Benarif 77) Kampala Capital City Authority (UGA) 0

Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)

FUS 1 1 0 0 3 0 3

Africain 1 1 0 0 3 1 3

Rivers 1 0 0 1 1 3 0

KCCA 1 0 0 1 0 3 0

Fixtures

May 23

KCCA v Africain

May 24

Rivers v FUS

Group B

At Rustenburg, South Africa

Platinum Stars (RSA) 1 (Khunou 43) Mouloudia Alger (ALG) 1 (Boudebouda 7)

Saturday

At Sfax, Tunisia

CS Sfaxien (TUN) 1 (Marzouki 31) Mbabane Swallows (SWZ) 0

Standings

Sfaxien 1 1 0 0 1 0 3

Mouloudia 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

Platinum 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

Swallows 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

Fixtures

May 23

Swallows v Platinum, Mouloudia v Sfaxien

Group C

At Calulo, Angola

Recreativo Libolo (ANG) 1 (Diawara 90+3) Al Hilal Obeid (SUD) 0

Saturday

At Ndola, Zambia

Zesco Utd (ZAM) 1 (Were 72-pen) Smouha (EGY) 0

Standings

Libolo 1 1 0 0 1 0 3

Zesco 1 1 0 0 1 0 3

Hilal 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

Smouha 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

Fixtures

May 24

Smouha v Libolo, Hilal v Zesco

Group D

At Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo

TP Mazembe (COD, holders) 2 (Mputu 17, Kalaba 50) CF Mounana (GAB) 0

Friday

At Pretoria

SuperSport Utd (RSA) 2 (Ritchie 39, Phala 82) Horoya AC (GUI) 2 (Ebele 34, Baffour 51)

Standings

Mazembe 1 1 0 0 2 0 3

Horoya 1 0 1 0 2 2 1

SuperSport 1 0 1 0 2 2 1

Mounana 1 0 0 1 0 2 0

Fixtures

May 23

Mounana v SuperSport

May 24

Horoya v Mazembe

Note: group winners and runners-up qualify for quarter-finals

LIVE twitter feed from the game

#RABKCCA Tweets

Confederation Cup group fixtures :

Matchday 1 (May 12-14)

Gp A: FUS Rabat (MAR) v KCCA (UGA), Club Africain (TUN) v Rivers Utd (NGR)

Gp B: CS Sfaxien (TUN) v Mbabane Swallows (SWZ), Platinum Stars (RSA) v Mouloudia Alger (ALG)

Gp C: Zesco Utd (ZAM) v Smouha (EGY), Recreativo Libolo (ANG) v Al Hilal Obeid (SUD)

Gp D: TP Mazembe (COD, holders) v CF Mounana (GAB), SuperSport Utd (RSA) v Horoya (GUI)

Matchday 2 (May 23-24)

Gp A: Rivers v FUS, KCCA v Africain

Gp B: Mouloudia v Sfaxien, Swallows v Platinum

Gp C: Hilal v Zesco, Smouha v Libolo

Gp D: Horoya v Mazembe, Mounana v SuperSport

Matchday 3 (June 2-4)

Gp A: KCCA v Rivers, FUS v Africain

Gp B: Swallows v Mouloudia, Sfaxien v Platinum

Gp C: Smouha v Hilal, Zesco v Libolo

Gp D: Mounana v Horoya, Mazembe v SuperSport

Matchday 4 (June 20-21)

Gp A: Rivers v KCCA, Africain v FUS

Gp B: Mouloudia v Swallows, Platinum v Sfaxien

Gp C: Hilal v Smouha, Libolo v Zesco

Gp D: Horoya v Mounana, SuperSport v Mazembe

Matchday 5 (June 30-July 2)

Gp A: KCCA v FUS, Rivers v Africain

Gp B: Swallows v Sfaxien, Mouloudia v Platinum

Gp C: Smouha v Zesco, Hilal v Libolo

Gp D: Mounana v Mazembe, Horoya v SuperSport

Matchday 6 (July 7-9)

Gp A: FUS v Rivers, Africain v KCCA

Gp B: Sfaxien v Mouloudia, Platinum v Swallows

Gp C: Zesco v Hilal, Libolo v Smouha

Gp D: Mazembe v Horoya, SuperSport v Mounana

Note: group winners and runners-up qualify for quarter-finals

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Zesco can win CAF Cup, says star Ching’andu

Zesco United emerged as an African club force last season and believe they can become the first Zambian winners of the CAF Confederation Cup this year.

“If we believe in each other we can lift the trophy,” said John Ching’andu ahead of their opening Group C game at home to Smouha of Egypt Saturday.

The 23-year-old goal poacher bagged a brace as Zesco reached the mini-league phase by outplaying Enugu Rangers of Nigeria 3-0 at home.

United had demonstrated an encouraging never-say-die spirit in the first leg, recovering from two goals behind to force a 2-2 draw.

The convincing overall triumph against Enugu came after Ndola-based Zesco stunned Africa last year by reaching the CAF Champions League semi-finals.

Serb coach Zlatko Krmpotic shares the optimism of Ching’andu while believing Smouha will pose a greater threat than Recreativo Libolo of Angola or Al Hilal Obeid of Sudan.

“Smouha are a good team who I know from my days as assistant coach of TP Mazembe in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“We beat them 2-0 away and 1-0 at home in the CAF Champions League, but they were no pushovers and deserve respect.”

While Zesco were eliminating Enugu with greater ease than anticipated, Smouha edged South African Premiership leaders Wits in a one-goal tie settled by a penalty.

Zesco are among four seeded clubs with title-holders Mazembe and former Confederation Cup winners FUS Rabat of Morocco and CS Sfaxien of Tunisia.

All launch their six-matchday group campaigns with home fixtures and should make winning starts in pursuit of top-two finishes and quarter-finals places.

FUS host Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the first Ugandan club to qualify for the group stage of a CAF competition.

KCCA came close to shocking title-holders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the Champions League before being demoted to the Confederation Cup.

Mazembe, the second most successful club in CAF competitions with 10 titles, tackle CF Mounana of Gabon in a clash between two other Champions League drop-outs.

Mbabane Swallows, the first Swaziland club to make a CAF group stage, have a challenging start away to record three-time Confederation Cup winners Sfaxien.

The Tunisians scored seven unanswered goals in two previous home victories and Karim Aouadhi and Senegalese Mohamed Ndoye score consistently.

Like the CAF Champions League, the Confederation Cup group phase has been expanded this year for eight clubs to 16 and the prize money increased.

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Additional reporting by AFP