Etoile Sahel of Tunisia stunned title holders Al Ahly of Egypt 3-1 on Friday to win a first African Champions League title. No one outside Tunisia gave Etoile a chance at Cairo Stadium after they were held 0-0 two weeks ago in the first leg of the African Football Confederation (CAF) club showpiece.
Victory was particularly sweet for the men from the Mediterranean
resort of Sousse as they were crushed 3-0 by Ahly at the same ground in the 2005 African Champions League decider.
Lifting the trophy completed a clean sweep of CAF titles for Etoile
who had won the Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup twice and the Super Cup and Confederation Cup once.
Ahly were seeking two records: a third consecutive title and sixth
overall but the early second-half dismissal of defender Emad al Nahas turned a match the Egyptians were poised to win.
Etoile took the lead in first-half stoppage time through Afouene
Gharbi only for Al Nahas to equalise five minutes into the second half of a thrilling final watched by a capacity 50,000 crowd.
Needing to score again under the away goal rule Ahly laid siege to
the Etoile goal until Al Nahas was shown a red card by outstanding Moroccan referee Abderrahim al Arjoun.
Ahly never regained their momentum with 10 men and survived a few
scares before Amine Chermiti put Etoile ahead for the second time two minutes into stoppage time and Mohamed Ali Nafkha added a late third.
And this, from the Associated Press:
Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia beat defending champion Al Ahly of Egypt 3-1 to win the MTN-CAF Champions League final on Friday.
After a scoreless first leg in Tunisia two weeks ago, Etoile du Sahel scored twice in extra time to clinch its first victory in the competition.
Amine Chermiti scored in the third extra minute with a shot that beat Egypt goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary, before Moussa Narry el-Gheni sealed the win two minutes later.
Etoile striker Afwan Gharbi had given his team a 1-0 lead in first-half injury time.
Imad el-Nahas equalized for Al Ahly in the 49th with a powerful header, but 11 minutes later he was sent off by Moroccan referee Abdulraheem el-Arjoon for a foul on Chermiti.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attended the game before 80,000 spectators at the sold-out Cairo International Stadium.
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