Yanga drawn with Angolan side

YOUNG Africans will now face Angolan side Sagrada Esperanca according to a draw conducted by CAF in its Cairo headquarters on Thursday.

The Tanzanian envoys qualified to play in the CAF Confederation Cup’s round of 16 after bravery losing to Egyptian giants, Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League. Yanga lost to the eight-time African champions Al Ahly 2-3 following a 2-1 defeat on Wednesday night at the Borg El-Arab Stadium in Alexandria.

The teams tied 1-1 in Dar es Salaam ten days ago. Hans van der Pluijm squad will kick off its campaign to seek a place in the eight-club group phase of Confederation Cup by welcoming the Angolan side, Sagrada at the National Stadium.

The little known Angolan is sponsored by Angolan Diamond Company known as Endiama. According to CAF, the surviving clubs from the CAF Confederation Cup will play the second leg at home and due to the fixture the first leg matches will be held on the weekend of May 6 to 8.

While the return leg matches will be played from May 17-18 and Yanga will be then required to travel to Angola. In the released draw, Tunisia’s Esperance who knocked out Azam FC in the second round of the CC to book their place in the play off stage, will face Algeria’s MO Bejaia while Mali’s Stade Malien will clash with FUS Rabat from Morocco.

While the dethroned Champions League title holders TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who were eliminated from the CL on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 at home to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco with 3-1 on aggregate will face Tunisian side Stade Gabesien.

Another Tunisia side, Etoile du Sahel, as Mazembe and Yanga who were demoted to the CAF Confederation Cup, will battle it with CF Mounana from Gabon to seek the group stage ticket of the tournament.

According to the draw, Ahli Tripoli of Libya will play against Misr Makassa of Egypt while Sudan’s El Merreikh will face Kawkab from Morocco and South African Mamelodi Sundown will commence their campaign against Ghana’s Medeama.

The fixture has been drawn after the winners of the 1/8th round of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup (CC) being pitted against the losing clubs of the 1/8th round of the Orange CAF Champions (CL) League, to determine the eight clubs for the group phase.

The eight surviving clubs from the CC were Esperance (Tunisia), Stade Gabesien (Tunisia), FUS Rabat (Morocco), Misr Makkassa (Egypt), Esperanca (Angola), CF Mounana (Gabon), Kawkab (Morocco) and Medeama (Ghana).

While TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), El Merreikh (Sudan), Stade Malien (Mali), MO Bejaia (Algeria), Ahli Tripoli (Libya), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) and Young Africans (Tanzania) make up the eight losers from the 1/8th round of the CL.

According to the procedure for the draw, the 16 clubs were ranked based on their performances at the group stage of the continental club championship for the last five years, 2011 – 2015. Per the ranking, the top ranked clubs from the CC were in Pot A and the top ranked clubs from the CL in Pot C.

The remaining six from the CL will be in Pot B with the six others from the CC in Pot D. Plot A had Espérance Sportive de Tunis and FUS Rabat and plot B had AL Merreikh, Stade Malien, M.O Bejaia, Ahli Tripoli, Mamelodi Sundowns and Young Africans while plot C had TP Mazembe and Etoile du Sahel and the last plot D had GD Esperanca, Misr Makkassa, CF Mounana, Medeama, Kawkab and Stade Gabesien.