Hearts handed Esperance in Confederation Cup

Accra Hearts of Oak have been paired with Tunisian giants Esperance de Tunis in the second 1/8th round of the Caf Confederation Cup after a draw in Cairo on Tuesday

Hearts edged past Togolese side A.S Police in the preliminary stage before eliminating Olympique de Ngor. They progressed to the next stage of the competition at the expense of Malian side Djoliba AC on away-goal rule after drawing 2-2 on aggregate at the Accra Sports Stadium last Sunday.

Meanwhile, Esperance opened their account in the Caf Champions League with a 4-1 aggregate win over Cameroonian side Cosmos de Bafia before suffering elimination at the hands of Sudanese giants Al Merriekh on penalties after 1-1 on aggregate before joining the Confederation Cup.

Caf grouped the sixteen teams into four pots ahead of the draw with each containing four clubs based on their performances in the previous stage. Eight clubs from the Champions League will square it off with the remaining eight clubs in the Confederation Cup.

Pot A was made up of the four top-ranked teams from the losers of the 1/8th round in the Champions League namely Al Ahly (Egypt), Esperance Tunis (Tunisia), AC Leopards (Congo) and CS Sfaxien (Tunisia), who were drawn against the four lowest ranked teams from the winners of the 1/ 8th round of the Confederation Cup in Pot B namely Hearts of Oak (Ghana), ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’Ivoire), Club Africain (Tunisia) and Warri Wolves (Nigeria).

The four top ranked clubs from the winners in the 1/8th round of the Confederation Cup were in Pot C- AS Vita (DR Congo), Etoile Sportive du Sahel (Tunisia), Orlando Pirates (South Africa) and Zamalek (Egypt) – and they were drawn against the four lowest ranked clubs among those eliminated from the Champions League 1/8th round namely AS Kaloum (Guinea), Sanga Balende (DR Congo), Raja Athletic Club (Morocco) and Stade Malien (Mali).

The first leg of the qualifiers will take place between the weekend of May 15-17, with the return fixtures scheduled for June 5-7.

Full Draw:

Esperance de Tunis vs Hearts of Oak

Al Ahly vs Club Africain

AC Leopards vs Warri Wolves

CS Sfaxien vs ASEC Mimosas

Stade Malien vs AS Vita

AS Kaloum vs Orlando Pirates

Sanga Balenda vs Zamalek

Raja Casablanca vs Etoile du Sahel