Cotonsport look to stun Kabylie

Cotonsport FC will square off with JS Kabylie in the CAF Confederation Cup semifinal first-leg match at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium in Garoua on Sunday.

Kick-off is at 6:00 pm CAT.

The Cottoners secured their place in the semifinals after defeating Senegalese outfit ASC Jaraaf on the away goals rule following a 2-2 draw on aggregate in the quarterfinals.

Cotonsport will be making their first semifinal appearance in the Confederation Cup since 2014 and they are hoping to become the first Cameroonian club to reach the final.

Souleymane Aboubakar, the Cotonsport head coach, feels that his side has overachieved in this season's tournament amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Our journey is good overall, despite some concerns due to the closure of our opponents' borders due to Covid-19," Souleymanou Aboubakar said on Cameroon Tribune.

"We are making a lot of efforts to reach all these countries [Algeria, Morocco, in particular] which influences our recovery time.

"At the start of this competition, we set ourselves the goal of qualifying for the group stage."

Meanwhile, Kabylie sneaked into the semifinals after securing a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Tunisian giants CS Sfaxien in a tightly contested quarterfinal tie.

The Canary are making their first appearance in the Confederation Cup semifinals and they are keen to become the first Algerian club to win the competition.

Denis Lavagne, the Kabylie head coach, knows that Cotonsport will be seeking revenge as the Canary defeated the Cottoners twice in the 2020/21 Confederation group stage.

"We have a psychological advantage over the opponent especially since we won them twice during the group stage," Lavagne said on DZ Foot.

"The Cameroonians will be very vengeful after the two defeats inflicted in the pool. I expect a very complicated first leg in Garoua.

"On this subject, I remember that in the group stage, they had brought forward the kick-off time, from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m. It was over 40 degrees."

This will be the seventh competitive meeting between Cotonsport and Kabylie since 2007.

Kabylie have recorded four victories compared to Cotonsport's two wins.