Defeating Tunisia's Esperance 3-1 on 14 February gave Egypt's Zamalek their fourth African Super Cup. As winners of the 28th edition played in Doha in Qatar, the Egyptian White Knights received first place prize money worth $200,000 (in 2018, the winner received $100,000 which was then doubled for the 2019 season). Runners-up Esperance received $150,000. In 2018 and 2017, the runner-up took $75,000. Though Friday's game was played on neutral ground, it felt that the Egyptians were playing on home soil. Tens of thousands of enthused Egyptian supporters working in Qatar created a lively, energetic atmosphere in the stadium that made the players feel right at home. While some of the stands in Thani Ben Jassem Stadium stood almost empty, those allocated for Zamalek fans were a full house. And despite Zamalek's concerns before the match regarding playing in Doha, whose ties with Cairo have been strained for the past three years over what Egypt calls Qatar's support for terrorism, the worries quickly dissipated, with the Egyptian delegation being warmly welcomed by the locals as well as the Egyptian expat community. The hospitality the visitors received apparently somewhat eased the tension. Achraf Bencharki scored a brace after Abdelraouf Benguit cancelled Zamalek's opener by Youssef Ibrahim, or Obama, to give the White Knights their fourth title, 17 years after their last crown in the annual one-off match. Thus, Zamalek, the 2019-20 Confederation Cup champions claimed the title over Esperance, the defending Champions League winner of the past two years. It was the second Super Cup win in a row for Zamalek's French coach Patrice Carteron who won the same title last year with Morocco's Raja, also in Doha, and again at the expense of Esperance. The Frenchman thus becomes the first ever manager to win the Super Cup two consecutive years with two different teams. Less than two minutes into Friday's game, Zamalek took the lead via Obama. The winger's head met Mohamed Abdel-Shafi's cross from the left side to give the White Knights a lead that lasted till halftime. Nine minutes after the break Esperance levelled the score from the spot. A handball on Zamalek's defender Mahmoud Hamdi was confirmed by VAR technology and Benguit sent Zamalek's keeper Mohamed Abu Gabal the wrong way. But the draw lasted only three minutes as Bencharki's solo effort restored Zamalek's lead after 58 minutes. The Moroccan weaved his way past two defenders to send a low shot inside Moez Ben Chrifia's net. Esperance threw everyone in attack and had their chances. But deep into injury time, Bencharki, from Tunisia, sealed victory for Zamalek when he finished a counterattack after receiving Ferjani Sassi's pass to send the ball into the net. Both Zamalek and Esperance went into the match with more than 100 years of history apiece. Only two players donned the shirt of both clubs, the Tunisian duo Wissem Abdi and Sassi. After excelling with Tunisia's CS Sfaxien whom Abdi guided to the 2006 Champions League final for the first time in their history before losing the title in the last minute to Egypt's Ahly, Abdi joined Zamalek in January 2007. The defender donned the famous white shirt for two seasons without much success before returning home to join Esperance in January 2009. With the Blood and Gold side, Abdi won three consecutive Tunisian league titles, and was a part of the 2011 Champions League winning squad. He hung up his boots in 2011. Sassi is considered one of Zamalek's most important players. He started his career with Sfaxien (like Abdi), before joining French side Metz in 2015. After one season he returned to join Esperance in July 2016. He won two league titles and a Tunisian Cup medal with Esperance before leaving to Saudi side Al-Nasr in January 2018. In July 2018 Sassi joined Zamalek and quickly established himself as a fan favourite. Nicknamed the “Midfield Maestro”, he guided Zamalek to the Egypt Cup before playing an influential role in Zamalek's triumphant 2018-19 Confederation Cup campaign despite missing the final due to an ankle injury. The Super Cup is an annual competition that has gathered the winners of the Champions League and Confederation Cup since its inception in 1993. Between 1993 and 2003 it was contested between the winners of the Champions League and African Cup Winners Cup. Ahly are the most successful side in the history of the Super Cup with six titles, followed by Zamalek with four and TP Mazembe of DR Congo with three. Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), Raja Casablanca (Morocco) and Enyimba (Nigeria) each has two titles, while the following clubs have won the title once: Esperance (Tunisia), Wydad (Morocco), Africa Sports (Cote d'Ivoire), Hearts of Oak (Ghana), Orlando Pirates (South Africa), ASEC Mimosas (Cote d'Ivoire), Maghreb Fez (Morocco), ES Setif (Algeria) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa). As such, Egyptian sides have won the Super Cup nine times, more than any other country. Egypt leads with nine titles, followed by Morocco, four, Tunisia, DR Congo with three titles, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa and Nigeria with two titles each and one title each for Algeria and Ghana. In 27 previous editions, Champions League winners emerged victorious 23 times, compared to two titles for African Cup Winners Cup champions, and two for Confederation Cup champions. Only two teams managed back to back CAF Super Cup titles: Enyimba of Nigeria (2004 and 2005), and Ahly who did it twice (2007 and 2008, 2013 and 2014). In Doha 2020, Esperance had their second consecutive Super Cup appearance and fifth overall. They won the trophy in 1995, but failed to replicate the feat in 1999, 2012 and 2019. On the other hand Zamalek were making their fifth CAF Super Cup appearance, with three victories in 1994, 1997 and 2003 and one defeat in 2001. The 2020 Super Cup match between Esperance and Zamalek was the fourth meeting between Tunisian and Egyptian sides. Egypt has won the previous three editions, all through Ahly. The Cairo Red Devils defeated Etoile du Sahel on penalties in 2007, before beating Sfaxien twice, 2-1 in 2009 and 3-2 in 2014. This is the second consecutive time the Super Cup is played in the Qatari capital Doha and will continue to be held there in 2021 and 2022. *A version of this article appears in print in the 20 February, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
