The final preliminary stages of the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup competitions proved difficult hurdles for Ghana representatives, Samartex and Nsoatreman as they failed to register wins to cushion them against an expected baptism of fire from North African opposition in second leg ties away.
Samartex fought back from a goal down to draw 2-2 against Raja Cassablanca from Morocco yesterday in the Champions League while Nsoatreman suffered a 2-0 defeat in the hands of CS Constantine on Friday, all at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The results leave the Ghanaian duo, especially Nsoatreman, in a difficult position, facing a huge mounting to climb to continue in the competition.
Raja drew first blood in the 20th minute when Mohamed Azrida headed in a corner.
But Francis Gyetuah was on hand 16 minutes later to restore parity with an overhead kick that surprisingly beat goalkeeper Anas Zniti in post.
Michael Ephson puts the host ahead with a simple tap-in the 43 minutes after the goalie failed to make a firm grab of another harmless strike in the 43rd minute.
The Moroccans stayed in the game and managed to grab the equaliser through an unmarked Mohamed Boulacsout in the 63rd minute.
For Nsoatreman FC, they saw their chances of progressing to the league stage of the CAF Confederation Cup dwindle after suffering a 2-0 home loss to Algerian outfit, CS Constantine.
Yaw ‘Rush’ Preko’s side clearly had no antidote to the effective 4-4-2 formation employed by the Algerians to great effect, reducing the Ghanaian FA Cup champions’ game to just passes without any meaningful threat, especially in the first half.
Abdennour Iheb Belhocini and Zakaria Benchaa stunned the home team in the 11th and 27th minutes and gave indication of what to expect in the next leg.
With a composed Constantine defence, all Nsoatreman got from their attacks were corner kicks, one of which the Algerians countered with in the 11th minute, presenting a loose ball to be contested for by Issaka Mohammed and the Belhocini.
But the Nsoatreman defender reacted too slow and allowed the winger to take possession and dribbled past two other defenders to place at the far side of goalkeeper Daniel Afadzwu for the opener.
The second goal in the 27th minute was a beautiful team goal to watch. It started from the first goal scorer dropping deep in defence to receive the ball which he passed to an advanced defender, Oussama Meddahi.
Medahhi found Benchaa unmarked some few metres away from the goal area. After controlling, he curled a beautiful one to the left side of the goalkeeper who remained stuck on his line.
Although little changed about the pattern of play, Nsoatreman could look back and blame striker Abdul Rahaman Mohammed for the defeat because all three great chances of the team fell to him but could not convert one.
After referee Masanguine Louis Mwanmba from Congo waved off a penalty appeal by the home fans, Nsoatreman had the best chance of the afternoon but instead of shooting, Mohammed offered a pass which was intercepted in the 73rd minute.
Five minutes later, Mohammed fired again into the skies an opportunity at close range before he decided again to pass instead of shooting at goal to round up their afternoon of frustrations.
BY ANDREW NORTEY