Kenya, Burundi Advance in CECAFA Cup

Kenya snatched a 1-0 win over Burundi on Thursday as both teams moved into the semi-finals of the CECAFA Challenge Cup in Uganda.

What's the Challenge Cup, you ask?

Let your friendly, neighborhood blogger answer that for you ...

According to Wikipedia, the Cup:

is the oldest football (soccer) tournament in Africa. It is a tournament of FIFA and the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), and includes national teams from Central and East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Zanzibar, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Djibouti).

In 2005 and 2006 the tournament was sponsored by Ethiopian/Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi, and was dubbed the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup.

It is the successor tournament of the Gossage Cup, held 37 times from 1926 until 1966, and the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup, held 7 times between 1965 and 1971.

Pretty cool, eh?

Kenya's Harambee Stars topped Group B after seeing off the Burundians at the Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium in Kampala.

According to the BBC:

The decisive goal came in the 60th minute when Osborne Monday slotted in a penalty after goalkeeper Abu Ndayisenga had fouled Kenyan striker Francis Ouma.

Kenya's stand-in coach Yusuf Chipo said afterwards that his team is good enough to go all the way and win this annual regional event.

He attributed the performance of his team to the good playing surface at Nakivubo stadium.

Gilbert Kanyenkorem, the Burundi coach, said he was pleasantly surprised to finish second behind a "strong" Kenyan team.

In an earlier Group B encounter, Sudan beat Zambia 2-0 but the win could not prevent the Sudanese from picking up the wooden spoon.

Sudan scored after 33 minutes when captain Abdulhamid Amari finished off an excellent move involving Balla Jabir and Safeldin Ali.

Eltahib Elmani then added a second just after the break as it became apparent that the Zambians were struggling to find their 'A' game.

Zambia could have got a consolation goal had Roger Kola's shot not been brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Akram Echadi.

Football. You learn something new every day ...

African Squads in Midweek Friendlies

Much of the world played World Cup qualifying last night.

Others played friendlies in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

Africa was no exception as the continent prepares itself for the much-anticipated 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

First up, African champions Egypt were beaten 2-0 by the world's top ranked side, Argentina.

A full strength Egypt side, including controversial keeper Essam El Hadary, conceded two goals in the last 20 minutes to go down to the South American giants.

But in Pretoria, the upcoming World Cup hosts, South Africa, secured a deserved 3-0 victory over their own South American opposition, Paraguay.

In the process, striker Benni McCarthy became his country's top international goalscorer.

In other matches, Ghana lost to Mexico 2-1.

Ghana took the lead in this game, held at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground in London, but they were not able to hold on to it.

After a goalless first half, Michael Essien gave the Black Stars the lead with a driving shot from outside the area, which went in off the post.

But Mexico equalised in simple fashion, when Ghana's substitute goalkeeper, Patrick Antwi, slipped as he prepared to deal with a back pass.

Carlos Salcido punished his mistake.

Four minutes from time, Ghana captain John Mensah hauled down Adolfo Bautista in the box and Mexico's Pavel Pardo stepped up to convert the penalty and give his side the win.

Also, Morocco bounced back from their dreadful Cup of Nations campaign with a 4-1 win over Belgium.

It was a first win for stand-in coach Fathi Jamal, who took over after the departure of Henri Michel.

"After our dramatic exit in the Africa Cup, this really feels great. It has been a long time since we played like this," Morocco playmaker Mbark Boussoufa said.

Tunisia met Ivory Coast in France, and came away with a 2-0 win.

Goals from Tijani Belaid and Radhouane Felhi gave Roger Lemerre's side victory, although the coach is soon to leave his post.

Liberia scored a surprise 2-0 win over Sudan in Khartoum, in their first game under new coach Antoine Hey.

The first result of the day was a 1-1 draw between Uganda and Libya in Kampala.

Caesar Okhuti put the Cranes ahead in the 48th minute, with the equalizer coming in the 90th minute from Younes Shidani.

DR Congo and Algeria were in France for another match taking place near Paris.

Dieumerci Mbokani put the Simbas ahead in the 35th minute, but a late penalty converted by Kamel Ghiles meant the game ended 1-1.

Tanzania's game against Mozambique was canceled due to heavy rains at the old national stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Mozambique turned down a proposal to have the match played on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Zimbabwe beat Botswana 1-0 in Gaborone, with the goal scored by Cuthbert Malajila.

Eto'o Breaks Record

Samuel Eto'o is the king of African football.

Today he became the highest scorer in Cup of Nations history when he converted a penalty in a 3-0 win over Sudan in their group finale.

The Indomitable Lions finish second in Group C behind Egypt with six points to go through to the quarterfinals.

Eto'o's 27th-minute strike took his tally at African Nations Cup tournaments to 15, overtaking the 38-year-old record of Ivory Coast's Laurent Pokou.

A bizarre own goal by Mohamed Ali Khider effectively ended the game six minutes later before Eto'o completed the scoring in injury-time, his fifth goal at the 2008 finals.

"We've been very efficient and scored 10 goals in the group stage, I don't know many teams who've done that," said Cameroon coach Otto Pfister.

"We totally dominated the first half and, although we did not put on a great show, I'm happy that we've qualified."

Kudos to Sudan, who didn't score a goal in the tournament, but gave their fellow countrymen something to cheer about after many war-ravaged years. I hope this tournament experience was a good one for them.

Over to Kumasi, where a last-gasp equaliser from Chris Katongo enabled Zambia to hold Egypt to a 1-1 draw.

But the result was not enough to rescue Zambia from elimination and confirmed Egypt as Group C winners.

Amr Zaki scored after 15 minutes in another solid display by the defending champions, who finished with seven points, one more than second placed Cameroon.

Egypt were caught out after a sustained period of pressure when Katongo blasted home from close range in the 89th minute.

Their next opponents have not been confirmed. Group D qualification comes tomorrow.

Cameroon Crushed, Zambia Rolls and Links

Day 3 of the African Cup of Nations didn't disappoint.

First off, defending champions Egypt routed pre-tournament favorites Cameroon 4-2. Striker Mohamed Zidan scored a double and Hosni Abd Rabou also struck twice for the five-times African champions with Samuel Eto'o netting Cameroon's two at the Baba Yara stadium.

Here, highlights from the match ...

Egypte cameroun resume
Uploaded by _drari_

In today's other match, Zambia profited from James Chamaga's early goal to score a resounding 3-0 win over Sudan in their opening Group C match on Tuesday.

Fellow forwards Jacob Mulenga and Felix Katongo added goals in the second half at Kumasi's Baba Yara stadium to put Zambia top of the group with Egypt after the defending champions' 4-2 win over Cameroon in the earlier match.

Chamanga, put into the starting line-up in place of suspended captain Chris Katongo, took just one minute and 45 seconds to fire Zambia ahead.

No highlights just yet ...

But here, I do have highlights of yesterday's 1-0 victory by Mali over Benin.
Sevilla striker Frederic Kanoute scored a penalty 49 minutes in after Dramane Traore had been fouled by Alain Gaspoz.

Mali-Benin
Uploaded by Footn

Now, on to some links ...

- First off, the link I posted in the last blog entry worked just fine for the Egypt-Cameroon match and failed to work for the Sudan-Zambia match.
No idea what is up there ... just keep trying, I suppose!

- Sports Illustrated writer Greg Lalas is onsite in Ghana and posted this interesting article after the first match ... good stuff, Mr. Lalas!

- The New York Times sent Brian Furtig, a law student at William & Mary School of Law and a Chelsea FC season ticket holder to Ghana. Here's his updates on the NY Times' Goal Blog. Speaking of which, the aforementioned Greg Lalas is also updating the terrific Goal Blog. Check them out. Fascinating insights.

- Regular commentator Chxta posted this on his excellent Chxta's World blog regarding his native Nigeria's match against the Ivory Coast.

Here, a small excerpt. Back with more later!

I now officially hate Jose Mourinho, and if the bastard is assassinated tomorrow, come and look for me. The attacking instincts that John Mikel Obi once possessed have been well and truly drilled away, and what is left is a Frank Lampard imitation. Mikel is still a good player, but he isn't mature enough to boss a midfield on his own, and it showed when Kanu was removed. Had Mikel been more mature, or more attack minded on another hand, the outcome may well have been different. Olofinjana tried his best, but he was out of his depth, and well, we've talked about Kanu before.

Cup of Nations is Around the Corner

The venues are being scrubbed clean, the tickets are printed and the cities are bubbling with anticipation.

The African Cup of Nations is but a mere 2 weeks and 2 days away from taking over the minds and hearts of football fans around the globe.

Cup finalists begin their pre-tournament preparations in earnest this weekend, led by defending champions Egypt who host Namibia in a friendly.

Saturday's match in Aswan is the first of three warm-up matches for the Pharaohs, still sweating on the availability of star striker Mido.

The Middlesbrough forward has a knee injury and is unsure of his fitness for the tournament, which starts January 20.

Namibia play their first match under Dutch coach Arie Schans, who has had less than a month to work with the team. His predecessor, the Zambian Ben Bamchuile died at the end of last month, casting a shadow over Namibia's preparations.

All but two of the 16 finalists will play warm-up internationals over the next three weeks before the tournament kick off.

Cameroon had planned a match against Kenya in Nairobi but the post-election violence in the east African country have seen the Indomitable Lions switch their preparations to Burkina Faso. To date, they have no matches planned and will not have played an international since their last qualifier in September.

Guinea play no warm-up internationals but will get match practice against club opposition in Marbella, Spain, where they will begin preparations next week. Among their planned opponents are Fiorentina and Borussia Dortmund. Heady competition, no?

Nigeria and Sudan are training in Malaga while Benin have gone to Brazil for a 10-day camp before heading to Burkina Faso for a warm-up match against Senegal on Jan. 17.

Angola have been in Portugal since before Christmas for their preparations.
Tunisia host Zambia at Rades on Sunday before a flurry of fixtures next week, which sees matches in Abu Dhabi, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and South Africa.

Under FIFA rules for continental championships, clubs must release their players for preparations a full two weeks before the start of the tournament, setting Sunday as the deadline for squad members to join up.

But there are likely to be some exceptions, notably Ghana's Michael Essien who officials said would likely be allowed to play for Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur on Jan.14. Also, Samuel Eto'o will stay with Barcelona until mid-week next week, playing in a Kings Cup match before meeting up with his Cameroon teammates.

It's almost here, people. I'm excited!!

Sudan Hungry for Success at Ghana '08

Most followers of world news know about Sudan's recent problems.
One avenue of entertainment and joy for the Sudanese people has been the football team.

Sudan wants to give even more joy to their people this January at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana.

The Nile Crocodiles' appearance in Ghana will be their first in the Cup finals in 32 years. They were one of the only three teams (Egypt, Ethiopia) to participate in the inaugural African Cup in 1957 and won the competition in 1970 when they hosted it.

According to Ahmed Al Maazar, vice-president of the Sudanese Football federation, they are leaving nothing to chance in their preparations for the tournament.

Sudan are scheduled to be in Spain early next month, where they will train and play friendly matches against Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.

Al Maazar told BBC Sport that players have been promised cash incentives "to fire them up" as they represent their country.

"The players will be given some money by the federation and we're also planning to buy them plots of land," he said.

"The president of the country (Omar Al Bashir) has promised them big things as a way of motivating them. We want to go there and have a very good tournament; we want to show how valuable Sudanese players are," Al Maazar said.

Sudan finished top of their qualifying group in a year which also saw Al Merreikh and Al Hilal shine in African club competitions.

When asked to name players likely to lead them to Nations Cup glory, Al Maazar singled out 37-year-old Faisal Ajab - scorer of five goals during the qualifiers.

He also mentioned 29-year-old Haitham Tambal, Ajab's team-mate at Al Mereikh.

Unlike most teams going to Ghana, all of Sudan's players are from domestic squads.

Sudan face a tough road out of the first round: they are in the same group as Egypt, Cameroon and Zambia.

African Champions League Final

The African Champions League Final is upon us!

The first leg of the biggest continental competition in Africa takes place this Saturday, with Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel challenging defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt.

Let the battle begin!

Etoile coach Bertrand Marchand called Ahly a 'lucky' team ahead of Saturday's clash.

The two sides meet in Sousse and the Tunisians are keen to avenge defeat in the 2005 final, which Ahly won on a 3-0 aggregate.

"Ahly depend too much on luck and experience and will need more than that when facing us," Marchand said.

"The key Ahly players are midfielder Mohamed Aboutraika and striker Emad Moteab and if we stop them, they will be easily contained and we can definitely claim the trophy."

Marchand considers Al-Hilal, the Sudanese club Etoile defeated 4-3 in a two-leg semi-final thriller, a much better team than the Egyptians, who relied on an own goal to edge Al-Ittihad of Libya at the same stage.

"I watched Ahly against Ittihad and they suffered to succeed. Hilal are much better than the Egyptians," he revealed. Talk about fanning the flames ...

Aware that Etoile flopped against Ahly two years ago using overly cautious tactics home and away, Marchand vowed to unleash a three-man strike force against their opponents, who are chasing a record third consecutive Champions League title.

His likely choices are Tunisian Amine Chermiti, leading Etoile scorer in the competition this year with seven goals, three-goal Cape Verdian Gilson 'Ja' Silva and Ghanaian mid-year signing Sadat Bukari.

All are young, quick and slick, and capable of troubling an Ahly defense long on experience but short on pace when brutally exposed 3-0 away to Hilal in the mini-league phase.

"Winning the African Champions League would be a dream," Chermiti said.

"We have a solid squad and wonderful supporters and I cannot accept failure again after losing two of the previous three finals."

Etoile were pipped on penalties by Enyimba of Nigeria in the 2004 decider.

The club from the Mediterranean resort of Sousse have won every Confederation of African Football (CAF) competition except the Champions League.

They also want to end a losing streak by Tunisia in the showcase of African club football as CS Sfaxien had victory snatched from their grasp last year when Aboutraika struck a stoppage-time winner in Tunis.

Good luck to both squads and may the best team win!

Al Ahly-Etoile in African Final

Congratulations to Al Ahly of Egypt and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia, who both advanced to the African Champions League final this weekend.

Etoile were the first to advance on Saturday, 3-1 over Sudan's Al Hilal.

The Sudanese won the first leg in Omdurman 2-1, meaning Etoile needed only a 1-0 home victory on Saturday to go through, thanks to their away goal.

Amine Chermiti put the Tunisians on the road to the final with the first of two headers after 13 minutes.

And the score remained 1-0 throughout the rest of the first half.

Early in the second half, though, there was a flurry of goals.

Saber Ben Frej got the better of a goal mouth scramble to put Etoile 2-0 up on the night.

But three minutes later, Hilal's Nigerian striker Ndubuisi Ezei got one back for the visitors, to make it 2-1 in Sousse, and level at 3-all on aggregate.

It was his eighth goal of the Champions League campaign.

The prospect of extra time loomed.

Not for long though, as Chermiti struck his second of the night on 63 minutes to take Etoile 3-1 ahead on the night, up 4-3 on aggregate.

But Hilal only needed to level the match with a second away goal to go through, and as the clock ran down they pressed and pressed.

A sequence of free kicks from just outside the Etoile area peppered the home side's goal.

But the Tunisians held on and they go through to their fifth consecutive continental final, and their third Champions League final in four years.

Over to Al Ahly, who edged past Al Ittihad 1-0 in Cairo on Sunday to reach the final.

The Egyptian club will now be looking to win their third consecutive title after they qualified for the final 1-0 on aggregate, after the two sides drew 0-0 in Libya two weeks ago.

The only goal of the game came after 20 minutes when Hilal's Hesham Shaban headed into his own net as he tried to clear a cross from Angola's Gilberto.

The final is a repeat of 2005 final that Ahly eventually won 3-0 on aggregate.

The first leg of the final will be played in Sousse in Tunisia on the weekend of October 26-28 and the second leg two weeks later in Cairo.

Good luck to both squads!

African Confederation Cup Semi-Finals

The African Champions League isn't the only game in town this weekend.

The African Confederations Cup gets ready to crown two finalists for their grand championship game this weekend, as well.

CS Sfaxien of Tunisia and El Merreikh of Sudan could clinch places in the big games this weekend.

In Group A, Sfaxien must beat Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in Pretoria to be certain of making the final.

Any other result would open the door for TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, provided they improve their away record and defeat Astres Douala in Cameroon.
Sfaxien enter the final-round group fixtures Saturday with a one-point advantage over twice African Champions winners Mazembe and a better head-to-head record.

Even though they're out of it, Sundowns will not lack incentive having suffered a humiliating four-goal loss in the Mediterranean town of Sfax not too long ago.

"We owe it to ourselves and to South Africa to avenge that embarrassing loss," vowed coach Gordon Igesund

Mazembe, the most successful Congolese club in Africa with three titles, will pin their hopes of success in the Atlantic city of Douala on national team striker Mputu Mabi, the leading Confederation Cup scorer with eight goals.

In Group B former Cup Winners Cup title holders Merreikh have a much simpler task than Sfaxien to qualify for the final as they need only avoid losing 5-0 away to Dolphin of Nigeria Sunday.

Merreikh, coached by German Otto Pfister, are three points clear of Dolphin and have a huge head-to-head advantage having triumphed 6-1 against the west Africans in Omdurman.

Pfister has no doubt his multi-national mix of stars are heading for the two-leg final in November.

"Merreikh and neighbors Al Hilal are the biggest organised football clubs in black Africa," he said.

"They have good infrastructure and organisation plus passionate supporters."

Ismaili of Egypt, who fired coach Taha Basri this week after a 4-4 draw with lowly Al Ittihad in the national championship, host Kwara United of Nigeria in the other fixture.

Thanks to the BBC for the info in this article. What would I do without you?

African Champions League Semifinals

It's here. The biggest continental competition in Africa celebrates its semifinals round, one more game to go before the grand final.

Saturday's African Champions League semifinal between Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia and Sudan's Al Hilal will produce a landmark result - whatever the outcome.

If Etoile can overcome their 2-1 deficit from the first leg in Omdurman, they will be in their fifth consecutive continental final. They won last year's Confederation Cup and they were beaten finalists in the Champions League in 2004 and 2005. In 2003 they took the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup.

If Hilal win, they would cap a remarkable year for Sudanese football.

The national side has reached the Nations Cup finals for the first time in three decades, and Hilal's club rivals Al Merreikh have all but secured a place in the final of the Confederation Cup.

Etoile feel good going in. They scored an away goal in Sudan. A 1-0 victory at home sends them to the Final.

"The first leg puts all the pressure on the Sudanese," striker Gilson Silva told BBC Fast Track on Thursday.

"They will be compelled to score at least once, as we did ourselves."

"They know that staying in defense will be catastrophic for them."

Etoile had a disappointing build-up to the game, with a 1-1 draw by US Monastir in the Tunisian league last week, but they are boosted by the return of defenders Mehdi Merieh and Saber Fradj.

The pair missed the first leg because of injury.

Hilal have amassed an impressive array of wins over the course of this Champions League campaign.

They have thrown off ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Esperance of Tunisia and Zamalek of Egypt, among others. Not too shabby.

Also, they will welcome back their key midfielder Rtshard Justin Lado for the game. Sounds like an enticing contest.

Over in the other semi-final, defending champions Al Ahly need a goal to get through on Sunday.

After squeezing out a 0-0 result in Tripoli a fortnight ago against surprise semifinalists Al Ittihad of Libya, the champions will look for the death blow away.

The 'Red Devils' will be highly dissappointed should they underrate the Libyans, who have been in superb form in their maiden campaign at this stage of the competition.

The aggregated winners advance to a two-legged Champions League final.

The first leg will be played in either Sudan or Tunisia on the weekend of October 26-28th with the return match in Egypt or Libya on the weekend of November 9-11.

I hope I can watch them here in the States.

Al Hilal Start African CL Semis With 2-1 Win

A quick update on the African Champions League first leg semifinal between Al Hilal of Sudan and Tunisia's Etoile Sahel from our friends at Reuters.

Nigerian pair Ndubuisi Eze and Kelechi Osunwa handed Al Hilal of Sudan a 2-1 home win over Tunisia's Etoile Sahel in their African Champions League semi-final first leg on Friday.

Eze struck his seventh goal of the competition in the 61st minute before the unmarked Osunwa headed in a cross from Al Hilal's third Nigerian import, Yusuf Mohamed, five minutes later.

Etoile, trying to reach their fifth African club competition final in as many years, had taken a first-half lead after a poor clearance from Hamuda Bashir allowed defender Radhouene Felhi to score from close range.

A 1-0 win in the return leg next month would take Etoile through on away goals.

On Sunday, Al Ittihad of Libya host holders Al Ahli of Egypt in their semi-final first leg.

Al Ahly Scrapes Towards History

The biggest club competition in African football continues this weekend with the first legs of the semifinals of the African Champions League.

First off, Al Ittihad of Libya take on defending champions Al Ahly from neighboring Egypt in Tripoli on Sunday. The Libyans have already upset the script by reaching the final four in their first year of participation in the group phase since the format of Africa's top club competition was changed 11 years ago.

Al Ahly are seeking to set new standards for the continent's annual club competitions.

No club has won the Champions League three times in a row.

Ahly are chasing the distinction this year and, at the same time, hoping to win Africa's top club title for a record-breaking sixth time.

The Egyptians have had a tough week of preparation with a derby match against arch rivals Zamalek on Monday, which they won with a first-half goal from Mohamed Aboutrika.

The other semi-final sees Al Hilal of Sudan vs. Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia.

The semi-final second legs will be played on the weekend of October 5th.

Confederations Cup Round-up

The African Champions League took place this week but we're going to focus instead on the 'little brother' of African continental competitions, the Confederations Cup.

Here's a quick re-cap of this weekend's African Confederations Cup action, thanks to our friends at the BBC.

A Nigerian club coach had to be rescued by police and another quit on a disastrous weekend for the country in the Confederation Cup.

Police smuggled Kwara United coach Kafaru Alabi away from the Township Stadium in the central town of Ilorin as supporters vented their anger at a 1-1 Group B draw with Ismailia of Egypt.

Dolphin were humiliated 6-1 in the same pool away to Al-Merreikh of Sudan, prompting coach Ifeanyi Onyedika to resign while travelling to the team hotel in Khartoum.

CS Sfaxien of Tunisia appear the team to beat in Group A after whipping Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa 4-0 with Ivorian striker Blaise Kouassi scoring twice.

And the deadliest finisher in African club football, Mbuti Mapi from TP Mazembe of the DR Congo, raised his goal tally to 15 by scoring twice in a 2-1 home win over Astres Douala of Cameroon.

Merreikh lead Group B with four points followed by Dolphin (three), Ismailia (two) and Kwara (one) while it is even closer in Group A with Sfaxien (four) just ahead of Mazembe and Sundowns (three each) and Astres have one.

Group winners after the six-round mini-leagues advance to the final and early form suggests Merreikh and Sfaxien could contest the US$300,000 first prize over two legs in November.

Edward Weng gave Kwara a first-half lead only for Mohamed Fadl to level 15 minutes from full-time and although the visitors lacked sacked French coach Patrice Neveu they came close to securing maximum points in a frenetic finish.

When the final whistle sounded police raced to protect Alabi and took him away in a heavily guarded truck as Ilorin once again witnessed the ugly side of African football.

Kwara defeated Mouloudia Alger of Algeria and Union Douala of Cameroon in ill-tempered qualifiers at the Township Stadium with match officials attacked by visiting players.

Former Dolphin stars Endurance Idahor and Efosa Eguakun sparkled as a multi-national Merreikh team guided by Togo 2006 World Cup coach Otto Pfister ran riot in the second half to score three times within five minutes.

After cutting the deficit to 2-1 via a Victor Ezeji header two minutes after half-time, Dolphin had leading scorer Bola Bello sent off for elbowing an opponent.

Merreikh captain and Sudan international Faisal Ajab led the goal charge with two and Mujahid Mohamed, Musa al-Tayeb, Idahor and Mohamed Ali were also on target.

Sundowns did not know what hit them in the Mediterranean city of Sfax with Kouassi scoring after 90 seconds and Blaise Mbele from the DR of Congo adding a second in the eighth minute.

Kouassi took advantage of slack marking to head a third Sfaxien goal with 29 minutes gone and second-half pressure Sundowns was thwarted by goalkeeper Lotfi Saidi before Naby Soumah added the fourth in stoppage time.

Mabi gave Mazembe a first-minute lead in Kinshasa, Amia Ekanga levelled midway thorugh the first half and the prolific Congolese scorer hit the 61st-minute winner.