Soccer-Hearts of Oak eliminated from African Champions League

By Mark Gleeson

JOHANNESBURG, March 2 (Reuters) - Ghana's Hearts of Oak were eliminated from the African Champions League on Sunday despite winning the second leg of their first round tie against FC105 Libreville of Gabon.

The 3-1 win in Accra was not enough for the 2000 champions to overcome a three goal first leg deficit and they were eliminated 4-3 on aggregate by the Gabonese army team.

Hearts of Oak's departure came a day after Morocco's Royal Armed Forces, also former winners of the continent's top club prize, bowed out with a shock 3-0 defeat in the Cape Verde Islands.

The soldiers had been 3-0 up after the first leg but Sporting Praia levelled the aggregate score with goals from Tigana and Tchetcha in the first half and Yuri after the interval.

The home side then secured arguably the biggest football success yet for the tiny island archipelago with a 5-4 triumph in the penalty shoot out.

Hearts were also 3-0 down from the first leg two weeks ago, but began the fightback in Accra with a first half goal from Michael Asante.

They then conceded an equaliser to Cedric Mintsa just before the break, which meant they needed four more goals without reply in the second half to overturn the deficit.

Kofi Abanga and a late penalty from Francis Bossman ensured a 3-1 win but it was not enough to avoid an embarrassingly early exit for the Ghanaians.