Monrovia -Liberian Football Association Champions Watanga FC and Orange Cup winner Paynesville FC have been drawn against Opponents from Cameroon and Algeria in the CAF 2024/2025 Competitions.
By: Christopher C Walker [email protected] 0777898214/0886723074
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) held the draw for the preliminary rounds of the 2024/2025 African Champions League and Confederation Cup on Thursday July 11, 2024 pairing the Liberian sides against sides from Central and North Africa.
The draw paired Algerian Champions Mouloudia Club d’Alger against Liberian Champions Watanga FC in the preliminary round of the champions league.
According to the draw the first leg will be played at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex (SKD) in Paynesville City between August 16-18 while the Second leg will take place in Algeria from August 22-25.
Watanga FC who will be making their second appearance in the champions league will be hoping to go beyond the preliminaries round.
Coached by Copper Sannah the Liberian champions have strengthened their team with several new and young players to make an impact in Africa.
The Liberian side has not been able to advance over any team in CAF competitions as they got eliminated by Nigerian side Rivers United in their debut appearance in the CAF Champions league and was also knocked out by Stade de Malien in the Confederation Cup last year.
Teams from Liberia have not been able to get good results over North African clubs in a CAF competition, something if achieved by Watanga will be a history for the club and Liberian football.
Meanwhile, Watanga FC head coach Copper Sannah says his biggest ambition for this year’s CAF competition is to reach his team to the group stage.
Coach Sannah has expressed optimism about his side’s participation in the Caf competition, saying
“I want to set a record as the only Liberian side that has ever played in the CAF group stage”.
In another development Paynesville FC who won the Orange Cup last season and will for the first time participate in CAF competition will play Fovu De Baham of Cameroon in the CAF Confederation Cup 1st Preliminary Round.
The first leg encounter is expected to be played in Paynesville, Liberia between August 16-18 , 2024 while the return leg will be played in Cameroon between the 23-25 August.
The winner from this match will meet Stade Malien of Mai in the 2nd Preliminary Round.
Paynesville FC as a club is new to CAF competition but has lots of experienced players in their team that have played in the champions league, confederation cup and for the national team.
Coach Dominic Savice who has promoted the team from the third division to the first division in the space of three years will have to deliver because of the huge investment into the club over the time.
For the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, a total of 59 clubs will be engaged from 47 African countries, while the CAF Confederation Cup will also have 52 clubs representing 41 countries.
The CAF Interclub men’s competitions remain two of the most sought-after club competitions in African club football, with both competitions continuing to grow from strength to strength, enjoying record global TV audiences thanks to the ever-growing standard of African football.
In the previous season, reigning champions Al Ahly SC extended their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League titles to a record extending 12, while their arch-rivals Zamalek were crowned champions of the CAF Confederation Cup for the second time.
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