Nigeria’s representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Remo Stars, failed in their bid to reach the second round after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Royal Armed Forces ASFAR on Sunday.
The Sky Blue Stars played out a 1-1 draw with the Moroccan side in Rabat seven days ago, and needed just a goalless result or an outright win to progress to the next round in Ikenne, but they failed to achieve either of that.
The hosts started the game with lots of intent, stringing beautiful passes together and were doing their bits in keeping the visitors at bay in the early exchanges.
A moment of concern soon surfaced when defender Isah Ali went down under a challenge and could not continue the game. He was subsequently replaced by new signing Monsuru Bashir.
From that moment on, ASFAR had most of the ball in the half, as Remo relied on counterattacks to create their own chances.
Meanwhile, one of the few occasions they managed to get into the Moroccans’ box, midfielder Dayo Ojo missed a big chance to put his side ahead but he couldn’t get his effort on target.
On the part of the visitors, they found Daniel Ogunmodede’s team difficult to break down and they had to rely on shots from outside the area, which never troubled Kayode Bankole in Remo’s goal.
The first half ended with both sides unseparated and with no clear cut scoring opportunity.
Upon resumption of the game and against the run of play, ASFAR capitalized on an error at the back from Monsuru to take the lead.
Striker Joseph Guede won the ball from the former Kwara defender before racing through on goal to beat Bankole for the opener in the 56th minute.
The game burst into life after that goal as the Sky Blue Stars were trying to get back in the game. Chances came at different moments for them but they failed to take them.
However, despite the late surge from the home side, the experienced Moroccan side held strong to seal their progression into the second round of the CAF Confed Cup.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s other flag bearers in the Confederation Cup, Kwara United recorded a 0-0 draw with AS Douanes in Niger on Sunday.
Kwara consolidated on the 3-0 win in Lagos last Sunday to book their progression into the next round.
The Harmony Boys will face defending champions RSB Berkane for a place in the playoff round to be played next month.
