CAF Confederation Cup: Insurance shock ASO Chief, NPFL excited
By Emma Ogbuehi
Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Gbenga Elegbeleye, has congratulated Bendel Insurance for scaling the first qualifying hurdle of the CAF Confederation Cup, describing their win as another confirmation of the resurgence of the domestic league.
Insurance on Saturday beat Algerian side ASO Chief 4-3 on penalties to reach the next round of the qualifying rounds.
ASO Chief had on August 19 lost the first leg of the encounter against Insurance by 0-1 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.
The Algerian side, however, won the return leg, played at Mabrouki Salem stadium in Algeria by the same margin to end the game on 1-1 aggregate.
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The hosts scored the only goal of the match after 41 minutes to force the game into penalties, which Bendel Insurance, went ahead to win 4-3 to progress to the second preliminary stage of the continental soccer competition.
“The victory is a confirmation that we are getting our league on a good pedestal to reclaim our place in the top echelon of African club football and we are determined to go higher”, Elegbeleye told NPLF Media.
He went on to urge Enyimba International and Remo Stars to continue the renaissance of the league in their respective matches on Sunday.
Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi also lauded Insurance for their tenacity to make the country proud and assured all clubs of support to restore the country’s prime position in continental club Football.
“As we move towards the start of the season, I am happy that Insurance have shown that the last season produced worthy representatives to compete on the continent”, Owumi said.
Enyimba are up against their Libyan opponents riding on a good first leg result while Remo Stars that lost narrowly to Ghanian side are home to overcome a slim 1-0 loss in the first leg
He urged the two clubs’ fans to turn up en masse to cheer them to victory.
