How Eric Ouma, Henry Meja and Tera performed in Europa League conference
By Collins Amanga, July 23, 2022Harambee Stars fullback Eric Ouma was part of the AIK Football’s 3-2 Europa Conference League loss to Ukrainian professional football club FC Vorskla Poltava in the second-round qualification matches played on Thursday night.
Ouma played the entire match as the side lost the game. Ouma’s side found themselves behind after the Ukrainian side netted the opening goal after just four minutes of play through Ruslan Stepanyuk.
Nicolás Marcelo Stefanelli pulled back for AIK in the 17th minute but Yuriy Kozyrenko restored the lead for the Ukrainians. Sebastian Larsson ensured a 2-2 tie by scoring just before the break.
Henry Meja benched
Artem Chelyadin came off the bench to score the winner for FC Vorskla Poltava. Another Kenyan International, Henry Meja was on the bench while Collins Shichenje was not included in the matchday squad.
AIK hope to the return leg of this encounter in Sweden next week to overturn the scoreline and qualify for the next round.
Djurgårdens IF Fotbollsförening, home to Frank Odhiambo kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Rijeka.
Frank Odhiambo uninvolved
Hampus Finndell and Victor Edvardsen scored late in the first half and early in the second half to cancel a goal conceded early in the first half. Odhiambo was named on the bench but was not involved in the clash.
Djurgårdens IF will be keen to finish the job when they face Rijeka in Sweden in the return leg.
In Armenian, Kenyan midfielder Alwyn Tera tasted the final 15 minutes as his side FC Ararat-Armenia played to a goalless draw with Paide in a match played at Technical Center – Academy in Armenia.
After the second qualifying round, a second draw will be held to determine third-round pairings.
Qualifying
First qualifying round: 7 & 14 July
Second qualifying round: 21 & 28 July
Third qualifying round: 4 & 11 August 2022
Play-offs: 18 & 25 August 2022
Group stage
Matchday 1: 8 September 2022
Matchday 2: 15 September 2022
Matchday 3: 6 October 2022
Matchday 4: 13 October 2022
Matchday 5: 27 October 2022
Matchday 6: 3 November 2022
Knockout phase
Knockout round play-offs: 16 & 23 February
Round of 16: 9 & 16 March 2023
Quarter-finals: 13 & 20 April 2023
Semi-finals: 11 & 18 May 2023
Final: 7 June 2023