Liberia’s best performing continental inter-club representative in more than half a decade, is Paynesville Football Club, that is set to take on big name Stade de Malian of Bamako in Mali at the last round of the preliminary qualifiers in the Confederation Cup category.
This Friday September 20, 2024 is a day to remember in the history of the Liberia Football Association National First Division League side as they go to the second leg match with a 1-0 advantage that requires an away draw or win to confirm Liberia’s participation in the group stage of the 2024/2025 Africa Confederation Cup.
Paynesville Football Club, won the Football Association Cup for the 2023/2024 league season and got introduced to the FA Cup champion’s competition under the Confederation of African Football.
In this current edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, the debutants have pull out surprising performances in the preliminary qualifiers stage playing three straight games without losing a single point.
Unlike other teams from the domestic scene that struggled in the last years at the continental campaigns, the debutants started their campaign against Fovu Club de Boham of Cameroon with a heavy 4-0 win at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports complex in their home city, Paynesville.
In a week’s period, the boys travelled to Cameroon to conclude the first preliminary round which they sailed through another smooth 1-0 win to get a space in the second preliminaries.
Their qualifier to the second preliminaries booked a header meeting between them and the Malian FA Cup champions Stade de Malian.
Saturday, September 14, 2024, marked the second and final preliminaries with a home match for the Liberian side. Again, Paynesville got a narrow 1-0 win to rest their away pressure.
Ayetay Yangbe saved the day for the ‘pocket-size’ fans and team officials of Paynesville FC that entered the stadium to support the club.
Days after the first leg match, the club confirmed a saved arrival in Bamako, Mali, to honor the last match to be played this afternoon according to CAF’s calendar.
Media personnel on the team camp have reported that Liberia hopeful delegation is in high gear to take a seat at the main group stage of the Confederation Cup.
If that is done, Paynesville FC will be the first Liberian team to play in the group stage of the continental event since its establishment.
