lthough there will be no record-
setting third successive title for
Tunisia’s Esperance after they were
eliminated in the CAF Champions
League quarter-finals, there is the
mouth-watering prospect of an
intense derby in the Final. And that could mean either
the fabled Cairo clash between Al Ahly and Zamalek,
both long dominant forces in the African game, or the
Casablanca showdown between Raja and Wydad,
after the two Egyptian clubs and two Moroccan sides
meet on the first two weekends of May.
The reason for the delay is the African Nations
Championship in Cameroon, the tournament for
quasi-national teams made up of locally based
players which has been belatedly slotted into the
calendar in April.
Zamalek had beaten Esperance 3-1 in the CAF
Super Cup a fortnight before the two met again over
two legs in the Champions League semi-finals and
they repeated the feat with a 3-2 aggregate triumph.
Zamalek overcame a tumultuous month to
reach the semi-finals for the first time in four years,
although much of it was self-inflicted, led by their
bellicose president Mortada Mansour whose emotive
decision-making and bizarre pronouncements make
him a colourful figure but also a bumbling menace.
Mansour has been through three coaches already
this season, keeping up a long sequence of hiring and
firing at will, and had clouded the build-up to the CAF
Super Cup by threatening to boycott the game in
Qatar because of the diplomatic stand-off between
Egypt and the Middle East state.
Mansour eventually backed down and Zamalekwent to Qatar, after which they travelled to Abu Dhabi
for the Egyptian Super Cup, where they beat Al Ahly
on penalties in a game that ended in a massive brawl
between the two teams.
That led to the Egyptian Football Association (EFA)
suspending Zamalek’s Emam Ashour for the rest of
the season, while captain Mahmoud Shikabala was
banned for eight games and Abdallah Gomaa for
three. Mansour was also given a three-match ban and
reacted by saying he would not send his side to play in
a league game against Ahly in Cairo four days later.
Ahly waited in vain for Zamalek to turn up, and
when they did not arrive Mansour claimed they had
sent the youth team to play the fixture but their bus
got stuck in traffic on the way to the stadium. The EFA
said that this was a lie and awarded Ahly the points.
It was against this backdrop that Zamalek then
went into their quarter-final first leg against holders
Esperance and repeated their Super Cup success with
a 3-1 victory in Cairo.
A stoppage-time penalty from Mahmoud
Alaa provided a two-
goal advantage and
provoked an attack on
the ref by Esperance,
who had midfielder
Mohamed Ali Ben
Romdhane sent off.
The Tunisian side’s
coach Moine Chaabani
and his assistant Mejdi
Traoui were banned
for four games
while skipper KhalilFinal since 1927 at Seville’s
Estadio de La Cartuja.
Friday March 6
FRANCE: Saturday’s game between
Strasbourg and Paris Saint-Germain
becomes the first Ligue 1 game to
be postponed because of the
coronavirus outbreak.
GERMANY: The DFB will test a “sin
bin” sanction for a second yellow
card rather than sending a player
off with a red card at eighth-tier
games and below next season.
Saturday March 7
ARGENTINA: Carlos Tevez’s goal
gives Boca Juniors a 1-0 victory
over Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
and seals the Primera Division title.
ENGLAND: Liverpool win 2-1
against Bournemouth to createa new English top-flight record
with a 22nd consecutive home win.
GERMANY: Jadon Sancho sets up
Achraf Hakimi’s winner in Borussia
Dortmund’s 2-1 victory at Borussia
Monchengladbach to equal a club
record of 15 assists for the season.
Sunday March 8
ITALY: Cristiano Ronaldo plays his
1,000th professional game asJuventus beat Internazionale 2-0.
NIGERIA: Chineme Martins of
top-flight side Nasarawa United
collapses during a game against
Katsina United and dies in hospital.
Monday March 9
ITALY: All sport in the country
is suspended until at least April
3 because of coronavirus. This
includes Serie A games but notNo record third
title for Esperance
But this year’s Final could see a big derby showdown
Off...referee
Redouane Jiyed
dismisses Esperance’s
Mohamed Ali
Ben RomdhaneOut...Mamelodi Sundowns’ Sibusiso Vilakazi takes on Al AhlyA
Zamalek overcame a tumultuous month to reach
the semi-finals for the first time in four years,
although much of it was self-inflictedCAF Champions League