CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
End of the road for El Merriekh SC Bentiu in TotalEnergies CAF Champions League
El Merriekh Bentiu’s journey in the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League came to a sudden end on Sunday.
After winning the first leg 1-0, the South Sudan champions suffered a 5-1 defeat to Kenya’s Gor Mahia FC to fall out on a 5-2 goal aggregate.
Samuel Akinbinu gave El Merriekh the lead, but Gor Mahia leveled matters through Chris Ochieng. The home side scored two more goals through Alpha Onyango and Alphonce Omija to take a 3-1 lead at half time.
In the second half, El Merriekh Bentiu in search of more goals, but the home side scored two more goals through Rooney Onyango. The South Sudan giants missed the opportunity to face African giants Al Ahly in the 2nd preliminary round of the tournament.
El Merriekh Bentiu who also played in the Dar Port Kagame Cup 2024 in Tanzania two months ago will now return to plan for the local season.
South Sudan champions El Merriekh Bentiu SC will face Gor Mahia FC in the second leg of the 1st preliminary round of the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League on Sunday afternoon.
The Kenyan side will host the match at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
El Merriekh Bentiu carry the advantage after the 1-0 win in the first leg played at the newly renovated Juba Stadium last weekend.
Ramsey Sebit Lumori, the head coach has made that clear that they know what to expect in Nairobi and will not underrate Gor Mahia. “We are playing away from home and must be very cautious. Ofcourse we shall change our game plan because we are away, but we must take our chances in-front of goal,” added the El Merriekh coach.
But Gor Mahia’s Brazilian coach Leonardo Martins Neiva has also made it clear that since El Merriekh Bentiu is a very tricky side, they must be at their best with home fans supporting.
The winning team over two legs will qualify to face African giants Al Ahly from Egypt in the 2nd preliminary round with the first leg to be played between September 13-15th, 2024.
The Kenyan champions tried to fight back to find goals, but failed to beat the El Merriekh defending line. and level the score, but failed to beat the
Five other teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) that have qualified for the 2nd preliminary round include; Young Africans SC (Tanzania), El Merriekh (Sudan), APR FC (Rwanda), Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (Ethiopia) and Somalia’s Dekedaha SC.
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