Dundo - Sagrada Esperança squad’s coach, Roque Sapiri, highlighted on Monday in the Province of Lunda Norte that his team's objective is to reach the quarter-finals of the group stage of the African Champion Clubs League in football.
Reacting to the draw for the competition, held at the headquarters of the African Football Confederation (CAF), in Egypt, Roque Sapiri promised a different, proactive and experienced team in the biggest clubs league on the continent.
“We are in this group to fight, compete and not simply to participate, so we will take our efforts as far as possible, because our goal is to reach at least the quarter-finals”, he stressed.
According to him, the lessons from the team's first participation in this competition, in 2021, will help the team to face the competition with more responsibility, so that the recommended objectives are achieved.
In 2022, in its first participation in this competition, the Sagrada Esperança team were eliminated in the round of 16 by Widad de Morocco, at 11 de Novembro stadium in Luanda, losing 1-2.
Regarding the opponents, Roque Sapiri highlighted the quality of each of the teams, with emphasis on Esperance de Tunis from Tunisia and Egyptian club Pyramids, but promised to do everything to build a fighting and resilient team with personality.
The Angolan team are in Group D of the African Champions Clubs League along with Esperance de Tunis, Pyramids and Djoliba AC from Mali.
Group A comprises TP Mazembe (DRC), Young Africans (Tanzania), Al Hilal (Sudan) and MC (Algeria) are included, while the group C is made up of Al Ahly (Egypt), CR Belouizdad (Algeria), Orlando Pirates (South Africa) and Stade d´Abidjan (Côte d´Ivoire).
However, to reach the group stage, Sagrada Esperança in the first leg game beat Saint Louis Suns United from the Seychelles Islands, 1-0, and in the second leg played at the 11 de Novembro stadium they won again, 3-0.
In the second-round match, Sagrada Esperança lost in the first leg to Nigeria's Enugu Rangers, 1-0, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium and in the second leg game, the team secured its qualification by defeating the Nigerians, 3-1, at the 11 November stadium.
The group stage of the Champions Clubs League starts on November 26th and ends on January 17th, 2025, while the CAF Cup starts on November 28th and ends on January 19th, 2025.
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