By Jejje Muhinde
Mali’s Onze Createurs beat Rwanda’s Rayon Sports 1-0 triumph in the first round first leg clash of the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday at the Modibo Keita Stadium, Bamako.
The first half of the game ended goalless, but 24 minutes into the second half, Samassekou Boubacar netted the sole goal of the game to reward the hosts with a victory.
Rayon’s attacking forward of Moussa Camara and Tidiane Kone mounted some pressure to equalize before the 90 minutes but could not overcome Onze Createurs steady backline.
The defeat, gives the Malian side a slight advantage going into the return leg, however, Rayon Sports’ technician Djuma Masudi has revealed nothing is lost yet for his team to qualify to the next round.
“We can still reverse the watercourse on the return leg,” Masudi said.
He added, “We have to work hard in the return leg. Onze is a great team that plays well with the ball; we were informed before making the trip to Bamako.”
“I think we made a small mistake that cost us this goal, but it’s football, we are now going to prepare for the return match, we will play our football in order to qualify. We will score in the return since we have the chance to utilize the home advantage and we hope to qualify,” Masudi has told Soka25east.com
With the return leg due next Saturday, March 18 at Amahoro Stadium, Coach Masudi will need to record a 2-0 victory to be on a safe side and avoid conceding any goal if they’re to progress to the next round.
“Much as we have a home advantage, we have to make sure that we avoid conceding any goal which is possible in football. Which implies we have to be careful with the tricky Onze,” Masudi warned.
The second leg will take place in Kigali next weekend with the winner after both legs advancing to the group stage.
