The Al Ahly juggernaut marched impressively forward in the CAF Champions League at the weekend, keeping up their 100 per cent record with an emphatic 3-0 triumph over Tunisian opponents Esperance in Group B.
But such are the standards that the Egyptian giants are setting these days that they came in for a roasting from their Portuguese coach Manuel Jose after the encounter, who criticised them for not playing well inspite of the margin and manner of their win.
It is a measure of Cairo club that Jose felt his players did not take the encounter seriously enough. "We could have scored more goals," mentioned the taskmaster.
Al Ahly's triumph, which came courtesy of 3 superbly taken goals, means they are within 2 points of a securing semi-final place with 3 games left to go in the group phase.
They can secure their berth in the final 4 on the 1st weekend of August when they meet Esperance again, this time at the November 7 Stadium in Rades, Tunisia.
They look likely to be joined by surprise package Al Hilal, who Sunday won a 2nd successive Group B game and now sit 3 points behind Al Ahly.
It was not an easy triumph though for the hosts, who grabbed a 2-1 triumph over ASEC Abidjan with a last gasp winner.
The goal came 6 minutes from time from Yusuf Mohamed, who is chasing a 3rd Champions League winners' medal. He won the competition twice with his Nigerian club Enyimba in 2003 and 2004 and is one of 4 Nigerians imports at Al Hilal.
Ndubuisi Eze and Kelechi Osunwa were the other 2 who played Sunday at the Al Hilal stadium and were a constant thorn in the side of the ASEC Abidjan defence.
Eze got the 1st goal early on in the game, profiting from ASEC's failure to clear a long ball through the midfield.
But the Ivorian champions, who have suffered a mini slump in recent weeks, gamely fought back and looked to have secured a valuable away point when Idrissu Abdul Nafiu fired in an equaliser in the early part of the 2nd half.
ASEC's Ghana born forward is looking among the best players in the Champions League this year however his club are now in desperate trouble.
ASEC, along with Esperance, remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the standings and if the Ivorian side are still to make the semis, as they did last year, it will take a dramatic turnaround.
Esperance, too, are facing difficult times, not totally unsurprising given the tur over of 3 coaches in 5 weeks at the club. Their problems in Cairo were also exacerbated by the suspension of their captain Moyin Chaabani for internal disciplinary reasons.
But there does remain a bright light for Tunisia with Etoile Sahel going top of Group A in emphatic fashion.
It had taken all of 50 seconds for the home side to take the lead at Sousse over Algeria's JS Kabylie, with Amine Chermiti signaling his return from playing with Tunisia's U-23 side at the All-Africa Games with a swift run onto a speculative ball from midfield.
JSK had their chances to equalise in the 1st half, however Etoile wrapped up the triumph with 2 quick 2nd half goals, the last of which was a breathtaking piece of skill from winger Ja, an import from the Cape Verde Islands.
He was a constant thorn for the Algerian defenders and then showed his deadly class by jinxing his way past 2 of them, cutting inside and then sticking the ball into the net from an acute angle with the outside of his foot.
Etoile said their pre tournament status as group favourites as they moved onto 7 points. "We have the side that is able to march on and attain its objectives," assures their French born coach Bertrand Marchand.
Etoile have won all of Africa's other annual club competitions however never the Champions League, even though they played in 2 of the last 3 finals. They currently have a 3 point lead over Al Ittihad of Libya, who suffered defeat at Morocco's Royal Armed Forces in Rabat.
The next round of Champions League games will be played on the weekend of 3-5 August.
03 July 2007
African champions Al Ahly came from behind on 3 occasions to beat Cairo rivals Zamalek 4-3 after extra time in the Egypt Cup final Monday.
2 goals in 2 minutes from substitute forward Osama Hosni in the 2nd half of added time helped Al Ahly have completed the league and cup double.
Amr Zaki opened the scoring for Zamalek 5 minutes into the 2nd half before Emad Motaeb equalised.
Mahmoud Shikabala restored Zamalek's lead only for Mohamed Aboutrika to equalise for the league champions 2 minutes from the end of normal time.
Zamalek, coached by former France manager Henri Michel, again led through Gamal Hamza before Hosni's double strike.
Al Ahly, who have now won the cup 35 times, finished 5 points ahead of Zamalek in the league.
