The Black Bulls qualified for the group stage of the Confederation Cup (CAF Cup) on Sunday (22), despite losing 1-2 in Brazzaville against AS Othoô from the Republic of Congo..

A 1-0 win in the first leg of the knockout round in Tchumene was decisive. With a 2-2 aggregate, the "Bulls" took advantage of the away goal rule and will be among Africa's elite from next month.

According to the newspaper Notícias, the Mozambican side opened the scoring through Ejaita in the 77th minute. The striker completed a quick transition down the right led by Fidel, who made a low cross that was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, with Ejaita appearing on the rebound to shoot into the goal. Both Congolese goals came in stoppage time.

At the Stade Alphonse Massamba-Débat, the Black Bulls had a tough 90 minutes.

With the ball circulating slowly and the (synthetic) pitch seemingly heavy, the Black Bulls opted, in the face of the Congolese impetus, to go out in transitions, with Danilo and Hammed moving around a lot on the left and in spaces between the lines, which contrasted with the apathy on the right wing, where Melque could barely cross the dividing line and Victor, one of the forwards, could barely find spaces between Oyo's wingers.

By qualifying for the group stage, the Black Bulls secured a 400,000 dollar prize from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

That prize goes to the two teams that finish third and fourth in their respective groups, since whoever advances to the "quarters" gets 550 thousand dollars.

In addition to the 400,000 already guaranteed, the "bulls" have another 50,000 in assistance for the costs of the preliminary phase.

The Black Bulls became the first Mozambican team to reach the group stage of an African competition in six years. The last one was UD Songo, in 2018, when they were in the CAF Cup.

Starting in October, the Bulls will play in the group stage for the first time in their history, their second attempt.

Their first rehearsal was in 2022, when they were knocked out of the Champions League race by Angola's Petro de Luanda.

(Photo DR)