Three Egyptian clubs began their quest for African club football titles, Abeer Anwar reports Ahli opened the defence of their African Champions League by beating Kenya's Tusker 2-0 in Nairobi. The away win almost assured Ahli of stepping into round 16 of the tournament even before the second-leg is played. The Egyptian club is also hoping to equal Zamalek's five cup titles. As title holders of last year's ninth edition of the competition, beating Tunisia's Etoile de Sahel 3-0 on aggregate in the two-leg decider, Ahli entered round 32 in confident mood, boasting nine of the players who were on the Egyptian team that last month won the Africa Cup of Nations. Emad Metab scored both goals for Ahli, in the eighth and 76th minutes. Metab's early goal crippled Tusker's hopes. It was an early shock that the Kenyan team never got over. After the match, El-Amri Farouk, an Ahli board member and head of the delegation, gave $200 to each player as prize money. "I am satisfied with the result which will make our mission back home much easier," coach Manuel Jose said. Ahli won the African Champions League in 1982, 1987, 2001 and 2005. As champions, they advanced directly to the second round while Tusker played and beat Red Sea of Eritrea 3-1 in Nairobi and 1- 0 in Asmara. Etoile Sahel were also 2-0 away winners over AS Polisi in Zanzibar. Nigeria's Enyimba, winners of the Champions League in 2003 and 2004, forced a 0-0 draw away at Diaraf Dakar of Senegal. Royal Armed Forces of Morocco conceded two late goals to go down 2- 1 at Rwanda's APR FC in Kigali while JS Kabylie of Algeria lost 1-0 to Zambian champions Zanaco in Lusaka. Former champions Orlando Pirates recorded their second big away win with a 5-0 win over AS Port Louis of Mauritius in a second round, first-leg match on Sunday. Another former champion, Kumasi Asante Kotoko of Ghana managed. a 0-0 draw away to Mozambique's Ferroviario Maputo There was victory for the Nigerian side Enugu Rangers who beat Al-Hilal of Sudan 1-0. Madagascar's USCAFOOT struggled to hold the South African club Mamelodi Sundowns 1-1 in another second round, first-leg tie at home. The visitors took the lead through a Mangoba Ngwenyaa strike in the 50th minute. USCAFOOT rallied and grabbed the equaliser through Lova Rafitoson with only 15 minutes remaining. One of the big shocks of the round came in Ethiopia where 2001 champions Hearts of Oak of Ghana suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of St George. The return legs will be played on the weekend of 31 March and 1-2 April. The 16 winners advance to the third and final qualifying round for the $3.5 million group phase. In the third edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Egypt's Haras Al-Hodoud demolished Guinea's AS Kaloum 6-0 in a first leg, first round encounter. After an early exit from the Arab Champions League, Al-Hodoud took it out on Kaloum, scoring only 13 seconds after the match began through Ahmed Eid while teammate Ahmed Abdel-Ghani added the second in the 10th minute. The game looking like a walk in the park, Hodoud started to play to the crowd, something coach Helmi Tolan disapproved of. Changes were made at half time, the result being four more goals. Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni scored a hat-trick while Abdel-Ghani had the final say. "This will make our mission in Guinea much easier," Tolan said. In the same competition and after a 30-year hiatus from the African scene, Alexandria's Ittihad lost 1-0 to Rwanda's Rayon Sports in Rwanda. It could have been worse in view of the circumstances. The team lost trio Hossam Abdel-Moneim, Mohamed Sharaf and Youssef Taher after problems with their military papers forced them to stay home. The problem forced the team to languish in Cairo Airport, adding to a tiresome flight to far away Rwanda. Worse, coach Talaat Youssef abruptly submitted his resignation just before the team flew to Rwanda. It's a wonder Ittihad lost by just one goal.
