KAMPALA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's KCCA FC have qualified for the group stage of the CAF Total Champions League, after beating Ethiopia's St. George 1-0 at the StarTimes Stadium on Saturday to advance on a 1-0 goal aggregate.
Striker Shaban Muhammad nodded the lone goal after 46 minutes when he beautifully met Musatafa Kizza's well taken cross.
The game started with lots of tension and defensive awareness with the two teams creating few scoring chances. But the hosts got off the blocks faster to take the lead catching the St. George defenders slower in movement.
Muhammad who was also top scorer at the 2017 COSAFA U-20 Championship in Zambia rose and headed the ball past Robert Odongkara to send the KCCA FC fans cheering.
The visitors tried to fight back but failed to break KCCA FC's defense. Behailu Assefa and Abubekar Sani Abdela had their shots saved by KCCA FC's goalkeeper Charles Lukwago.
"This is a sweet win because we have qualified for the group stage. Last year we made it to the group stage of the Confederation Cup and now we are a step better," KCCA FC's coach Mike Hillary Mutebi told Xinhua after the game.
Goal scorer Muhammad said he is very proud of being the man who netted the only goal. "It is a nice day to be part of this club and I look forward to the group stage," added the striker.
Vas Pinto, St. George's coach said he was disappointed with the result because his team also had the chances to score. " We should have scored here, but my players wasted the chances," Pinto said.
KCCA FC's qualification for the group stage means they earn 550,000 U.S dollars from the Confederation of African Football (CAF). In-case they progress to the last eight in the knockout stage then they will get 675,000 U.S dollars.