The two Egyptian teams Ismaili and Zamalek have settled at the bottom of their group round three matches in the CAF African Champions League and Confederations Cup respectively. Their next games this weekend are away from home, compounding the problem, Inas Mazhar reports. Interestingly, the most recent games of the two saw the same result, 1-1 draws. To qualify to the quarter-finals, the teams need a minor miracle: to win all their remaining matches, which seems unrealistic at best considering the modest performances they have displayed and results achieved thus far. It was Ismaili who played first this week, against the Algerian side Contantinois. They were a minute away from celebrating a victory when Emad Hamdi put the ball into his net in the fourth minute of stoppage time after Namibian Benson Shilongo had positioned Ismaili ahead on 69 minutes in a game that was held behind closed doors at the Borg Al-Arab Stadium in Alexandria. The ban on spectators was part of the punishment meted out to Ismaili after they were reinstated in the competition following an appeal to the African federation. They had been kicked out over crowd trouble. In addition to the ban, Ismaili were also fined $40,000 (about 35,000 euros) and opponents Club Africain of Tunisia, who had been leading 2-1 when play was stopped on 85 minutes in the match played in December, were awarded a 3-0 victory. Unlike the ‘behind closed doors' of the Egyptian League, where one can find families, friends, officials and media watching from the stands, CAF made sure the African ban in the Contantinois match was strictly implemented by appointing a security officer for the match, which could only be described as ‘the silent game'. The Egyptians needed maximum points against Contantinois to get back into contention for a top-two finish in Group C, but that own goal leaves them with no real chance of survival in the competition. Ismaili trail joint leaders Constantine and TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo by six points with three matches remaining. With two of their remaining three fixtures away, against Constantine next weekend and Club Africain, Ismaili, according to head coach Cedomir Janivski, will do well to avoid finishing last. Shilongo volleyed Ismaili into the lead when he took advantage of a slip by Algerian Kheireddine Arroussi to fire past Chamseddine Rahmani. It was destined to be the match-winner until a low cross bounced off Hamdi and landed in the corner of the net for one point apiece. “It is hard to believe this result,” Janivski said. “For 90 minutes it was our side who was winning and it should have ended this way. We lost so many chances in the second half through organised play and counter attacks. We should have scored the second and win three points, but we didn't because we have exerted a lot of effort and lost energy. But I am very proud of my team and don't want them to feel down and get depressed. “Anyway, we have made a progress and one a point. We still have three more games to go and we will try to correct our mistakes in order to win next Saturday,” Janivski added. Lavagme Denis, head coach of Contantinois, told reporters after the match that both teams played “a hard game and it was difficult in the beginning to score when the two teams played long balls. The draw is a good result for the two teams. I am glad we won a point which is very important to us. Levelling the score in the last minute of the game was very impressive. We played a good game but now we are looking forward to the second leg match in Algeria as we will have the home advantage.” The following day in the same venue, substitute Youssef Ibrahim ‘Obama' scored at the death to save Zamalek from an embarrassing home defeat to Petro Atletico in the Confederation Cup. Brazilian Tiago Azulao had given the visiting Angolans a shocking lead on the hour-mark of the Group D clash, only for Ibrahim, nicknamed ‘Obama' for his resemblance to the former US president, to snatch a point for the White Knights with virtually the last kick of the game. Winless after two matches, the five-time African champions needed nothing short of victory to boost their chances. After failing to break the deadlock in an even first half, they found themselves a goal down after Antonio Rosa beat his marker before squaring to Azulao, who fired home past Zamalek goalkeeper Mahmoud Gennesh to stun the home crowd. Zamalek fought back with Tunisian-import Ferjani Sassi, his compatriot Hamdi Naguez and left-back Abdullah Gomaa leading raids up front in search of the equaliser. Swiss coach Christian Gross brought on Ayman Hefni and Obama as he varied his tactics. Hefni nearly grabbed the equaliser with his first touch on 64 minutes, heading wide Gomaa's cross from close range. After failing to break through the iron clad Petro defence, Zamalek had the last laugh as a Gomaa cross met the head of Obama for the equaliser in the final minute of added-on time. Zamalek remain at the foot of the standings with two points from three games, four shy of leaders Gor Mahia of Kenya, who beat Algeria's Nasr Hussein Dey 2-0 in Nairobi in the earlier game. Both Hussein Dey and Petro have four points.
