Cairo (dpa)
Five Arab teams are seeking to impose their continental control and obtain the “full mark” with the start of the third round of the group stage of the African Confederation Cup in African Football (African Confederation).
Ittihad Algeria, the defending champion, and Modern Future of Egypt are equal in the balance in the first group, each with 6 points from two matches, which is the same as the balance of Zamalek of Egypt in the second group, and the balance of Africa of Tunisia and RS Berkane of Morocco in the third and fourth groups, respectively.
The third round will witness 8 matches, starting with Zamalek facing its guest, Angola’s Sagrada, on Saturday, while the rest of the matches will be held next Sunday.
Libya’s Abu Salim will host its Guinean counterpart, Swar Academy, in Group Two, while Nigeria’s Rivers United will meet with Tunisian Africain, and Angola’s Do Lopeto Academy will meet Ghana’s Dreams FC in Group Three.
Libya’s Al Hilal will play against SuperSport United of South Africa, and Ittihad Algeria will play against Future in Group One, while Nahdet Berkane will play against Congo’s Diable Noir, and South Africa’s Sekhukhune United will play against Stade de Mali in Group Four.
Al-Ittihad Al-Capital achieved two consecutive victories over Al-Hilal and Super Sport outside the stadium, to continue the journey of chasing the title that it achieved in the last edition, but it clashes with Future, who is in second place with the same number of points, as it also won over both teams. The confrontation between the two teams will be for leadership of the first group, and the winner of the match will come very close to securing his place in the quarter-finals.
In the second group, Egyptian Zamalek is looking to confirm its continental superiority when it hosts Sagrada, where it is looking to score the ninth point in the group, after achieving two wins at the expense of Abu Salim and Siwar Academy, so that the “White Knight” tops the group’s ranking table.
This season, Zamalek is suffering from its inability to support its ranks due to the suspension of registration, in light of the financial crisis that the club is suffering from, which has caused its inability to implement the final ruling issued against it to pay dues to the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.
The crises did not stop there, but in the decision of its new board of directors to suspend the trio, Ahmed Fattouh, Mustafa El-Zenari, and Mohamed Sobhi, for leaving the team’s camp without permission last month, in addition to the departure of its Colombian coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, and the appointment of Motamed Gamal as the team’s technical director.
Despite all of this, the team is doing well at the continental level, is at the top of its group, and is close to securing a place in the quarter-finals.
On the other hand, Sagrada has 3 points after defeating Swar of Guinea with two goals, before losing to Abu Salim by one goal, and Rocky Sabiri, the coach of Sagrada, is seeking to get a positive result from that confrontation, according to press statements upon his arrival in Cairo.
In the third group, the African Club of Tunisia seeks to confirm its lead when it visits Rivers United of Nigeria on Sunday. The African Club is in the lead with 6 points, followed by Dreams and Rivers United with three points, then the Do Lobito Academy with no points.
RS Berkane hosts its counterpart, Diable Noir, in search of the “full mark” in Group Four, where it collected 6 points from wins over Sekhukhune United and Stade de Mali, which are in second and third place respectively with three points each, while Diable Noir is at the bottom of the group with no points.
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