JOHANNESBURG: CS Sfaxien of Tunisia trounced Young Sports Academy of Cameroon 5-0 Saturday to start superbly in pursuit of a record-extending fourth CAF Confederation Cup title.
Senegalese Walliou Ndoye gave the hosts a ninth-minute lead in Mediterranean city Sfax and Karim Aouadhi converted two penalties before half-time.
Further goals from Alaa Marzouki and Ndoye served notice that Sfaxien are aiming to emulate the title-winning teams of 2007, 2008 and 2013.
Nestor Clausen, part of the Diego Maradona-inspired 1986 Argentina World Cup-winning squad, coaches the Tunisian outfit.
JS Kabylie of Algeria, the most decorated of the 32 contenders with six CAF titles, were grateful to goalkeeper Malek Asselah for a 0-0 away to Etoile of Congo Brazzaville.
He saved a second-half penalty and left the "Canaries" in a strong position to reach play-offs next month against the CAF Champions League last-32 losers.
Vipers of Uganda celebrated opening a new stadium in Kampala by edging Platinum Stars of South Africa 1-0 thanks to a Milton Karisa header just after half-time.
Brazilian Fabricio Simoes bagged a brace as Recreativo Libolo of Angola beat Platinum Ngezi of Zimbabwe 2-1 in Calulo, south of Luanda.
Liberty Chakoroma scored a potentially crucial away goal for African newcomers Platinum, who host the return match next weekend.
Sanga Balende of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kaloum of Guinea and Onze Createurs of Mali established 1-0 advantages at home in other first legs.
Pedro Kungemena scored for Balende against Al Hilal Al Obeid of Sudan in Lubumbashi and Aboubacar Sylla was the Kaloum match-winner in Conakry against Ittihad Tanger of Morocco.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.