Ahli's defense of the African title began by losing 0-1 to Young Africans of Tanzania in their first leg clash of the 1/16th round of the Orange CAF Champions League, which was played in Dar El Salam,Tanzania. Ahli players seemed disorganised and lacking in team spirit, running a great deal with the ball while unable to translate such attacks to goals. Although the Red Devils knew everything about their opponents, which they have met once before in the last five years, they seemed apathetic, as if they have taken the discussion to postpone winning to the 2nd leg match to be played next week in Cairo. The match's sole goal came through Haroub, on the 83th minute of the match, to give his team the kiss of life and make it the first time for the Young Africans to win against an Egyptian team in 12 previous games. Ahli's technical coach, Mohamed Youssef, commented on his team's loss. “We did our best and tried hard to win, but the opponents' defense line was very strong. My players seemed a little tired after their Super Cup match last week, but I am sure they will be up to the challenge in the match in Cairo. At least it was good enough that we blocked a number of attacks to narrow the loss to 0-1, which could be easily made up for in the Cairo clash next week,” he said. Meanwhile, the Zamalek team was successful in beating Kabuscorp of Angola 1-0 in their 2014 CAf Confederation contender played at Cairo International Stadium, making their mission easier in the second leg match to take place in Angola next week. Mahmoud Fathalla scored the team's only goal in the 56th minute. Zamalek's players were dominating the playground almost all through the game preventing the visitors from any chance or hope of scoring. The players were in full concentration and had one target — to win. The victory's joy soon vanished, however, after Zamalek's fans, the White Knights, tried to enter the Cairo Stadium forcefully, flaunting regulations that bans fans from attending matches after the destruction caused by Ahli's Ultras in their team's Super Cup contender, which incurred damages amounting to EGP650,000. Zamalek's technical manager Ahmed Hossam, known as “Mido,” was optimistic after the match. “We will qualify, I am sure of that,” he said. “Of course a bigger goal difference victory would have been better, but I'm satisfied with this result. In Angola we will play much better and we will win again. Kabuscorp is a good team but they lack the experience.” In the meantime, Kabuscorp's manager, Eduard Antranik, did not seem satisfied with the game's result. “It's not over yet, there are 90 minutes still to be played,” he said to CAF Online. In Nairobi, Esperance of Tunisia made sure their 1987 loss to Kenya champions, Gor Mahia, in the CAF Cup Winners' Cup counted for little, beating their hosts 3-2 in Nairobi. Also, Ebusua Dwarfs of Ghana cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over visiting Angolan club side Petro Atletico in the Orange CAF Confederation Cup first-leg tie played at the Robert Mensah Sports Stadium, Cape Coast. Meanwhile, Wadi Degla were able to draw 1-1 against AS Douanes of Togo in an interesting match where the two teams played tête-à-tête, despite the fact that Wadi Degla's experience with African contenders is yet fragile. Ismaili followed in Wadi Degla's steps drawing 0-0 against FC MK Etanchéité making their mission easier in Cairo. There was yet another shocker in Bujumbura, when Flambeau de l'EST stunned last year's semi-finalists Coton Sport of Cameroon 1-0. In Bamako, Stade Malien were held to a draw by visiting Sudanese side, El-Hilal, just as AS Vita Club of DR Congo forced a similar result against Zimbabwean champions, Dynamos, in Harare.
