Global Sports
The African Champions' League
Confederation of African Football (CAF) Club Champions' League Reaches the Semi-Finals
October 04, 2008
The African Champions League, pitting, arguably, the best club sides in the continent against each other took off on July 18, in Omdurman, with Al Hilal of Sudan playing host to Enyimba Football Club of Nigeria.
Eight clubs from seven different countries are represented in this year's league playoffs. They had won the right to play in the Champions League by defeating the competition in earlier regional bouts. The eight teams are divided into two groups 'A' and 'B'
The four teams in Group 'B' played the first two games of the tournament. Nigeria's Enyimba, a two-time winner of the Champions League, lost the opening game in Omdurman, Sudan by 2 goals to 3, to host Al Hilal. This game set a pattern of away losses that marked the group stage of the competitions. The next day, the 19th of July, Coton Sport of Cameroon predictably used home-pitch advantage to beat Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Congo by a lone goal in Garoua, Cameroon.
The four Group 'A' teams met the same day, July 20, with two the Egyptian teams in the tournament, Al Ahly and Zamalek, vying against each other in Cairo, while Dynamos of Zimbabwe played ASEC Mimosa Abidjan of Ivory Coast in Harare. The two games ended 2-1, respectively in favor of Al Ahly and Dynamos.
By the time the group stage ended on September 21, each team had met the three others in its group twice.
On August 2, two of the North African teams from Group 'A' and 'B', Al Ahly and Al Hilal were hosted by their sub-Saharan counterparts ASEC Abidjan and TP Mazembe; both games ended in goalless draws. The next day, Dynamos and Zamalek from Group ‘A’ met in Cairo with Zamalek prevailing 1-0. The Group
'B' game between Coton Sport of Cameroon and Enyimba ended 2-0 in the latter’s favor in their Aba home pitch.
Two weeks later, on August 15, Coton Sport travelled to Sudan and managed a 1-1 draw with Al Hilal in Omdurman. The next day, Zamalek and ASEC Abidjan had a goalless draw in Cairo. The next day, Al Ahly, the leading team in Group
'A', defeated Zimbabwe's Dynamos 2-1 in Cairo. At the same time in Aba, the Group
'B' match between Enyimba and TP Mazembe took place and Enyimba defeated the Congo visitors by two goals to nil.
The next set of matches took place two weeks later. Al Ahly of Egypt travelled to Zimbabwe to meet Dynamos and for the first time in these games the Egyptians broke the away game jinx and came away with a 1-0 victory over their hosts. Al Hilal of Sudan did not do as well; in its meeting with Coton Sport in Garoua Cameroon, the Sudanese team could not repeat the Egyptian's feat and fell victim to the home-pitch-advantage thing; they were beaten 1-0 by their hosts.
The following day both ASEC Abidjan of Group 'A' and Tout Puissant Mazembe of Group
'B' trounced their opponents, Zamalek and Enyimba by the same 3-0 points difference, when they met in Abidjan and Lumumbashi, respectively.
The Enyimba people later lodged complaints with Confederation of African Football (CAF) against their Congo hosts for what they considered inhospitable treatment meted them by TP Mazembe in Lumumbashi which they claimed contributed to their loss. So far those complaints have not changed the game's outcome.
On September 13, the Dynamos of Zimbabwe got their revenge for being beaten on their home tuff by Al Ahly of Egypt; they overran ASEC Abidjan by two goals to one on the latter’s home tuff. Before now Dynamos trailed behind the other teams in Group
'A'. With this away win however, the Zimbabweans were back into contention for a spot in the semi finals.
Enyimba's game against Al Hilal scheduled for the 14th of September in Aba was rained out and postponed to the 15th, at which time the Nigerian side decisively beat their Sudanese opponents 4-1. This decisive win over Al Hilal put the Nigerians at the top of Group
'B' and guaranteed them a spot in the semi-finals.
Zamalek and their fellow Egyptians Al Ahly had met in Cairo on the 14th., but the result was a 2-all draw. We have not heard the last of the rivalry between these two closely matched Egyptian giants in African football. The Cameroonian Coton Sport had also travelled to Lumumbashi to meet TP Mazembe and lost 2-0 to their Congolese opponents. That loss put Coton Sport in grave danger of never reaching the semi finals.
The Nigerians had only one game left; and that against their eastern neighbor, Coton Sport. For the Cameroonians that crucial game against Enyimba was a make or break affair. A loss would put them out of the competition altogether; and for a team from a country that had never reached this stage of the play-offs in the leagues 27-year history, it was indeed nail biting time. A win meant a berth in the semi-finals for the cotton pickers from northern Cameroon. If the Cameroonians failed, it would be Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo accompanying Enyimba to the semi-finals. The Cameroonians had one advantage over the Nigerians; the game would be played in Garoua, their home tuff. They met on the 20th of September and Coton Sport trounced Enyimba 3-0.
The Nigerians, who have always done poorly in away games throughout the group stage, lost their nerve 14 minutes into the first half when goalkeeper Rabo Saminvu was red-carded by the Ugandan referee. He was replaced by reserve goalie Sani Haliru and one other player was also ousted. This left Enyimba with only 10 players on the field. That was the beginning of the end. By this win Coton Sport had not only secured its berth in the Semi finals, but had managed to put themselves ahead of the Nigerians to become the leaders in Group
'B'.
The game between Al Hilal and TP Mazembe in Omdurman was a 2-2 draw that made no difference at this stage; both teams had already fallen short of making it into the semi-finals.
The final games of the groups stage were played on the 21st of September among the four Group ‘A’ teams. Al Ahly had already secured its place in the semi-finals. All the remaining three teams had a good chance of becoming the second Group ‘A’ team to make it into the semi-finals. For ASEC Mimosa that meant that it had to win its game with Al Ahly in Cairo. ASEC Mimosa managed a 2-2 draw with Al Ahly. Egyptian giant Zamalek was on the edge. It had to win this last away game to remain in contention for a spot in the semi-finals. The Dynamos was the team to beat. They were the favorites to advance into the semi finals with Al Ahly. All they needed was a draw in this game to advance; and it was being played on their home tuff. The Dynamos capitalized on the home-tuff advantage to pull ahead of Zamalek by a lone goal.
Going into the Semi-Finals the teams are positioned thus:
Group 'A': Al Ahly of Egypt, two-time champions League champion is winner with 12 points; dark horse Dynamos of Zimbabwe is second
Group 'B': Newcomer Coton Sport of Cameroon is the winner with 10 points; two-time Champions League winner Enyimba of Nigeria is second with 9 points.
The first leg of the semi-finals begins on Sunday October 5. Group 'A' runner-up, Dynamos of Zimbabwe will host the Group
'B' winner, Coton Sport of Cameroon at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare; kick-off time is 13h00 GMT. Koman Coulibaly of Mali is the assigned referee, assisted by countrymen Ibrahim Baggagah and Balla Diarra. Sene Badara of Senegal is match commissioner.
Two hours later, Group 'B' runner-up, Nigeria's Enyimba Football Club of Aba will host the Group ‘A’ winner, Al Ahly of Egypt at the Enyimba Football Stadium in Aba; kick-off time is 15h00 GMT. The referee is South Africa's Daniel Bennett. He will be assisted by Enoch Molefe and Lazarus Matela. Mali's Sidi Bekaye Magassa will be the match commissioner.
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