Ahli and Zamalek will represent Egypt at the Champions League, while Enppi and Ismaili will take part at the Confederations Cup during the quarterfinals competitions scheduled for July. This weekend brought good news to Egyptians who are celebrating Egyptian Easter and the Coptic feast. It started with Enppi and Ismaili scoring two respective victories. Enppi knocked down Super Sport of South Africa 1-3, while Ismaili narrowly beat Ahli Shandy 4-3 on penalty kicks after the regular and injury times ended in a scoreless draw. Penalty shoot-outs had to be held to determine the qualifying team. On Sunday, Ahli and Zamalek confirmed their qualification in the Champions League competition. Two hours before Ahli's match, Zamalek had played to a 2-2 with host Ethiopian St. George in the second round return match played at the Addis Ababa stadium. Though the aggregate result was 3-3, Zamalek progressed to the group phase with the away goal rule after the first leg had ended 1-1 in Cairo. It was Zamalek's striker, Abdoulaye Cisse, who gave his team a 1-0 lead when he opened the score just two minutes into the game with a fabulous header. The Zamalek goal was shocking to the home team St. George who put on more pressure and, 12 minutes later, Shemeles Bekele leveled the score after continuing a long pass from teammate Yared Zinabu. Then, with only one minute to go for the first half, St. George's Isaac Isinde netted the second to give his team a 2-1 lead and the chance to catch their breath. So, it was 2-1 at half time, which gave the home team more confidence as they went to the second half with all hopes to book a ticket to the quarterfinal stage. Unfortunately, the visitors had other plans for their hosts who were stunned by their dominating guests. Zamalek, who is currently at its peak condition at both national and regional competitions and holding a record of not losing a game in months, took the challenge seriously. They put on more pressure as the home team struggled to keep its net clean. But it seems that the prayers of millions of Egyptians watching at home were answered when Egypt's foreign player Cisse silenced the crowd as he headed an equaliser from close range to snatch the qualifying ticket from the home team. Following the match Cisse told reporters that he was extremely happy with his team making it to the next stage. “It's a great moment. We had planned to qualify and we did it,” he said. On the other hand, Brazilian Zamalek coach Jorvan Vieira said in the post-match press conference that the victory was very precious and that they had worked hard to get it. “Football is all about excitement and we did what we could,” he said. St. George's German coach Michael Kruger expressed his disappointment with the result, while his assistant coach Fasil Tekalign believed that his team lost because of the lack of experience against a more experienced opponent like Zamalek. In Cairo, the Orange CAF Champions League defending champions, Ahli of Egypt, was the last of the four Egyptian teams playing in the African competitions. With all eyes on Ahli and the result, the defending champions played under pressure as they sustained their title defending campaign by beating visitors CA Bizertin of Tunisia 2-1 on Sunday at the Cairo Air Defense Stadium. The game was played behind closed doors with no fans allowed due to the CAF penalisation of Ahli, which denied fans from attending four matches, because of the incidents that took place during Ahli's last African match against Tusker of Kenya at the Military Borg Al-Arab Stadium. Sports minister Al-Amri Farouk had prior taken the decision to ban fans from attending any African or regional matches as punishment for their recent riots. Only media and officials of both teams were allowed in to the stands and it was funny when they acted as fans supporting both teams. In the absence of the cheers and yells of the fans, one could easily hear the coach's instructions to their players in the pitch and the players calling each other. Without fans, however, it seems that the players miss the good vibes and the match ended up being like a wedding without guests. The two sides Ahli and Bizerte had had a barren draw two weeks ago in Bizerte. It was a boring first half, but two minutes after the break, super star Mohamed Barakat opened the score for Ahli from the penalty spot while striker Emad Metaeb confirmed Ahli's lead after 63 minutes. A counter attack from Bizerte and an error in the Ahli defence line two minutes later allowed Nour Hadreya to earn a penalty kick from where he managed to improve the result to 2-1. More confident now, Bizertin struggled to level the score again because it would have meant securing a place at the quarterfinals. But with only 10 men left in the team after Mohamed Mhadhabi was sent off three minutes from time, it was difficult for the visitors to score, especially when Bizertin Rwandan midfielder Olivier Karkese lost a golden chance to score as Ahli's team captain Wael Gomaa saved the ball just before it crossed the goal line. Following the match, Karkese told Al-Ahram Weekly that he was sorry he missed the chance his team desperately needed, “but this is football and it always happen. I tried to strike but was denied by the great defender.” Ahli team captain Gomaa, the defender who saved that ball, said that he was pleased with the result but his team is still facing a serious problem, “It's good to win while the team is facing serious injuries, which is affecting the team's performance,” Gomaa said. He added that he hopes that with the return of his teammates, Abu Treika, Ahmed Fathi and Mohamed Nagi Gedo, from abroad where they have been playing on loan, the team would regain its strength again. Ahli team doctor Ihab Ali revealed that Gedo returns from England after playing for Hull City with a serious injury that needs an operation and at least four to five months of rehabilitation. Head coach Hossam El-Badri said that he was glad his team managed to make it to the quarterfinals amidst all the difficulties they were facing and a tough opponent. “Because of the injuries, we had to consider other alternatives and changes in tactics. The players were tense during the first half especially after it ended nil-nil,” El-Badri said. El-Badri is preparing to leave the Ahli club for another post as head coach of Ahli Tripoli of Libya. It is said that former Ahli player and coach Mokhtar Mokhtar is a top favourite to replace El-Badri, who had led Ahli to two African titles. Bizertin head coach Mondher Kabier, who was sent off the bench to the stands in the second half, said that the team tried hard but Ahli was a great and experienced team who managed to take advantage of their chances. “They had two serious chances from which they scored two goals and we had two as well but only managed to score one. Our opponent is a renowned and experienced team in Africa and so they won. But in the end, I'm satisfied with my boys' performance.”
