Mukura Victory Sports coach, Christian Francis Haringingo, has commended his players after reaching the play-off round of the 2018/2019 Total CAF Confederation Cup. He described the display by the black-and-yellow outfit on Saturday as “a very positive wonderful performance”. Mukura VS sealed the ticket to the play-off round of the CAF Confederation Cup after defeating in return leg Sudanese side Al Hilal Obeid 5-4 on penalties. “The performance was really outstanding, the competition is very tough and you can see how it is hard to beat a team but I am happy with my boys with the way they are giving their all to ensure Rwandans are happy,” said an excited Haringingo. With a goalless draw obtained from the first leg, Mukura VS needed a win to proceed to the next round. With a barren draw in regular time, penalties were taken to decide the winner and Mukura VS emerged the victor, winning 5-4 to proceed to the next round. Gael Duhayindavyi, Said Djuma Iddy, Innocent Ndizeye, Onesme Twizerimana and Christophe Ndayishimiye all converted their penalties while Al Hilal Obeid’s Yousif Ibrahim missed his. Haringingo noted that, “The objective was to give our best to the continental exposure and from what I have seen here from my players, I am very optimistic that we will do better in the next round. We shall maintain our fighting spirit,” he promised. It was the first time for Mukura to reach play-off round, which is their first historical achievement on the continent. They will face losers of the first round of the Champions League. The Huye-based outfit will on Friday this week know their opponent in the play-off round during the draw to be held by CAF in Cairo, Egypt. The draw will involve the 30 qualified clubs. The qualified clubs are Mukura, Sudanese Al Hilal, Cameroon’s Coton Sport and New Star, Kenya’s Gor Mahia, Mali’s Stade Malien, Libya’s Al-Ahly Benghazi, Zambia’s Nkana, Congo’s AS Otoho, Ethiopia’s Jimma Aba Jifar and Lesotho’s Swatini’s Bantu. Others are Egypt’s Al-Nasr SC, Zamalek, Morocco’s Ittihad Tanger, Raja Casablanca RS Berkane and Hassania Agadir, Namibia’s African Stars, Senegalese side ASC Diaraf, Uganda’s Vipers and KCCA, Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien, Algeria’s NA Hussein Dey, Angola’s Petro de Luanda, Burkina Faso’s Faso Salitas, Ghana’s Asante Kotoko, Cote d’Ivoire’s San Pedro, Nigeria’s Enugu Rangers and South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs. The play-off round action will begin in January with the first leg slated for January 11-13, 2019 while the return leg will be staged on January 18-20. The winners in the play-off round contest will advance to the lucrative group stage whose action is slated for February. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
