November 07, (THEWILL) – Rivers Angels were outclassed and beaten 3-0 by Morocco’s ASFAR FC in their Group B TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League opening game on Saturday.
The match. which was played in the El Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, was a masterclass on finishing as ASFAR’s Sanaa Mssoudy put the Nigerian team to the sword three times.
Sanaa opened the scoring in the 31st minute and scored twice more in the second half, once in a display of individual skills in the 74th minute and again in the 84th minute to seal the Group B opener.
The Rivers Angels lacked a response and will need to work on it before their next match. Edwin Okon, Rivers Angels coach, conceded that much when he said, “The team is tired from all the traveling issues and that’s the normal result. My job is to pick up their spirit, let them know that the game is over and recover for the next matches”.
In her post-match comments, the three-goal heroine and Woman of The Match, Mssoudy said: “I’m very happy to be the first player to score a hat-trick in WCL, I dedicate it to my father who passed away”.
“My favorite goal of the hat-trick was the second one because I showed my capabilities and skills in it. It’s all due to my team’s efforts.”
ASFAR coach, Abadallah Haidamou, was proud of the exploits of Mssoudy and her teammates. He said: “The first 3 points give us huge motivation for the rest of the matches. Every coach wishes for his players to be the best, I’m very proud of Sanaa and her teammates
“I don’t think we won because the opponent was tired, we played good football and that’s why we won. The second goal of Sanaa’s was brilliant, we physically reacted to it. But the third goal is my favorite as it shows teamwork and right movements”.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
