Al Ahly Wins Seventh African Champions League Title

By Arinze Ude

Al Ahly FC of Egypt – that defeated Nigerian Sunshine FC in the semi finals – were crowned winners of the African Champions League at the weekend after beating Esperance Sportive of Tunisia 2-1 with 3-2 on aggregate. The Egyptian giants surprisingly saw off the challenge from Esperance de Tunis in Tunis with a win, for a record seventh Champions League title. Defending champions Esperance were bookmakers’ favourites to retain their crown after holding Al Ahly to a 1-1 draw in Alexandria, Egypt a fortnight ago but they were outplayed and outscored by the better team. Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy, the player that gave Al Ahly the win over Sunshine FC, was again the star of the game. He put his team ahead just before the half time with a neat finish after a great individual work from his strike partner El-Sayed Hamdi. Walid Soliman increased Al Ahly’s tally in the second half. Esperance striker Yannick N’Djeng pulled one back with five minutes to the end. Things almost went from bad to worse for the Tunisian side but their keeper Moez Ben Cherifia saved a penalty from  substitute Mohammed Abou-Treika leaving the scores at 2-1.