Moroccan armed forces club FAR favourites to lift CAF Cup

This year’s CAF Confederation Cup knockout round will feature FAR Rabat, a Moroccan armed forces club and past champion of Africa.

The Black Devils, led by former France indoor football international Fernando da Cruz, have advanced to the quarterfinals after winning seven and drawing four of their 12 group and qualification matches.

13 players contributed to the 22 goals they scored, with Diney Borges of Cape Verde taking the lead despite being an odd center-back thanks to his four goals.

The only CAF champions in this season’s quarterfinals of the African version of the UEFA Europa League are FAR.

By winning the Confederation Cup 20 years later and the African Cup of Champions Clubs, later known as the CAF Champions League, they gave Morocco two firsts.

FAR, however, lost its influence in Africa after finishing as runners-up in the Confederations Cup a year after winning it, while Casablanca teams Raja and Wydad triumphed in CAF championships.

The Rabat club lost both home and away to JS Kabylie of Algeria in the second qualifying round, failing to go past the group round of the Confederation Cup the previous year.

This weekend, they travel back to Algeria for the first leg of a quarterfinal matchup against USM Alger, who, like FAR and the Pyramids of Egypt, have advanced to the next round.

The other hopefuls are first-time qualifiers: Marumo Gallants of South Africa, US Monastir of Tunisia, ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast, Rivers United of Nigeria, and Young Africans of Tanzania.

If FAR defeats USM, which has Aymen Mahious, the highest scorer in the 2022 African Nations Championship, they will play ASEC or Monastir for a spot in the championship game.

In their eight African matches, the Tunisian and Ivorian teams have each lost just once, and they both have reliable scorers in Boubacar Traore and Aubin Kramo, respectively.

Pyramids is participating in the Confederation Cup for the fourth consecutive year after making it to the final in 2020, the semifinals in 2021, and the quarterfinals in 2022.
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