DESPITE a 2-2 draw with Algeria's JS Kabylie, Egypt's Ahli secured a berth in the semi- finals of the African Champions League, writes Abeer Anwar Defending champions Ahli will face Asec Mimosas of Cote D'Ivoir in the semi-final while the other semi-final will feature Tunisia's Sfaxien and South Africa's Orlando Pirates. The Tunisian side had beaten Ghana's Ashante Kotoko 2-1 in Tunisia. The draw put Ahli in second place in Group A behind Sfaxien who finished the group stage with 12 points. Ahli came second with 11 points. Ousted Kotoko was third place with seven points while JS Kabylie finished bottom of the table with only four points. All four goals were scored by two players. Ahli's midfielder Mohamed Abou Treika opened the scoring for Ahli 15 minutes into the match. Shebiba's Dabu leveled in the 64th minute from a penalty before giving his team the lead in the 81st minute. Abou Treika then equalised for Ahli from a penalty in injury time. The validity of both penalty kicks was suspect by officials and spectators from both teams who criticised Moroccan referee Mohamed El-Qazaz for his judgment. Earlier this week, in Group B, Onyekachi Okonokwo gave his Orlando Pirates the passageway to the last four of the competition. Okonokwo netted a strong shot from the midfield in the 30th minute to give his team a 1-0 victory over Enyimba . Pirates finished second in the group behind Asec, who drew 0-0 with Ghana's Hearts of Oak in Obuasi. Enyimba had just needed a draw in the match in Johannesburg to progress to the semi-finals and had several chances in the game to score but were let down by poor finishing. Apart from Okonokwo's shot, Pirates were also poor in front of goal. Pirates now host the winners of Group A Sfaxien in the first leg of the semi- finals at the end of the month.
