ONE of Nigeria’s CAF Confederation Cup representatives El Kanemi Warriors were shock first round casualties on Saturday after losing 2-1 to African debutants Dadje in Benin.
Dadje qualified 3-2 on aggregate following a 1-1 first leg draw last weekend and will face two-time title-holders Renaissance Berkane of Morocco next month for a group stage place.
Bless Salassi was once again the Dadje hero, following up his first leg goal by scoring twice in the return match in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.
Salassi netted on 30 minutes and Clement Naantum equalised seven minutes later to bring the clubs level in the second leg and on aggregate.
The goal that won the match and the tie came from Salassi after 81 minutes, and gave Benin a rare victory in an African competition.
Dadje will have home advantage first against Berkane, who have reached four of the last six Confederation Cup finals, winning two and finishing runners-up twice.
Another African debutant to reach the second and final qualifying round were Stellenbosch, who are based in a rugby union hotbed near Cape Town in South Africa.
Former New Zealand international Andre de Jong was among three second-half scorers as ‘Stellies’ romped to a 5-0 victory over fellow newcomers Ntsingizini Hotspurs of Eswatini.
Stellenbosch progressed 8-0 on aggregate and will face experienced African campaigners V Club from the Democratic Republic of Congo in September.
Mozambican outfit Black Bulls hammered Alize Fort of the Comoros 4-0 in Maputo, with Nigerian Ayuba Abubakar among the goals, to win the one-sided tie 11-0 on aggregate.
Despite the wide winning margin, Bulls fell well short of the record for a Confederation Cup tie which Gabonese club US Bitam created in 2013 with a 17-1 overall victory.
Next up for the Mozambican hopefuls will be 15 de Agosto of Equatorial Guinea or Otoho of Congo Brazzaville.
There were no goals between ZESCO United of Zambia and Dynamos of Zimbabwe in Ndola, but that did not stop the Harare club celebrating as they qualified having won 1-0 at home.
Competing in the Confederation Cup for the first time, Nsoatreman of Ghana completed a double over Elect Sport of Chad by winning 2-0 away for a 5-0 overall victory.
A goal in each half, from Walid Fuseini and Stephan Diyou, earned the Ghanaians a showdown with CS Constantine of Algeria or Police of Rwanda, who meet on Sunday (today).