North Africans Zamalek and Raja are in the final of the Champions League. Abeer Anwar reports on how they got there The African Champions League has boiled down to an all- North African affair after Egypt's Zamalek and Raja Casablanca of Morocco advanced to the final. Hossam Hassan inspired Zamalek to an easy 2-0 win over TP Mazembe while in Morocco, Raja came back from a two-goal first-leg deficit to crush Cote D'Ivoire's ASEC Abidjan 4-0. Mazembe of the Congo were always going to struggle after drawing 1-1 with Zamalek a fortnight earlier, thus failing to take advantage in the first leg on their notoriously bumpy pitch. And in front of 80,000 fans in Cairo stadium on Friday, Zamalek set about punishing Mazembe as swiftly as possible. As early as the fourth minute Hassan had got his name on the score sheet. Abdel-Halim Ali was clearly tripped up by Mazembe defender Mbaya in the penalty area and Hassan coolly slotted home the resultant kick. Zamalek then hardly lost the ball for the rest of the first half, apart from a nervous few moments on 24 minutes when Mazembe striker Lofo found himself unmarked in the Zamalek penalty area, but saw his shot well saved by Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed. That incident aside, the first half was all one-way traffic and it was no surprise when Zamalek doubled their advantage on the night after 37 minutes. Again Hassan was the scorer, sweeping home a marvelous goal from the edge of the penalty area. By half time, the Zamalek fans were already celebrating their first appearance in the final in seven years. The second half lacked much of the entertainment that was present in the first half, mainly because Zamalek resorted needlessly to defence. Much of the backpedaling came after Hazem Imam, whose magical touches had the Congolese mystified for much of the first half, was substituted. With nothing to lose, Mazembe began to push forward in numbers, but this continually left them fragile at the back and Zamalek began to find gaps opening up for them. Nevertheless, they were able to threaten on occasion, as Ilunga began to find space but too often found himself lacking in support. To their credit, Zamalek continued to attack, and went close through Ali on 78 minutes, the midfielders' shot going just wide. But after a last-minute Hassan effort was superbly saved by Mayala, it became clear Zamalek would not add to their tally and settled for their place in the Champions League final which will provide an indefinitely bigger challenge in the form of Raja Casablanca, with their highly potent attacking line-up. Having recovered from a two-goal, first-leg deficit by midway through the second half, Raja continually pounded the ASEC goal, with the Ivorians desperately attempting to cling on to force the match to penalties. But two goals in stoppage time finally sank their hopes and sent the capacity crowd in Casablanca into ecstasy. On a pitch resembling the trenches of World War I, the match, played on Sunday, was a battle, with passing near impossible -- the ball simply stopping in the mud. Raja looked the more dangerous from the start and ASEC seemed unable to do much except hope to being able to simply protect their two-goal advantage. But after a first half that sapped both sides' strength, ASEC's advantage was halved on the stroke of half-time, as Aboucherouane slid in to force the ball over the line from Sami's cross. Raja reemerged after the break ever more determined, and were level on aggregate on 63 minutes, Endene Elokan slotting home past substitute goalkeeper Brahima Kone. From then on the Moroccans bombarded the ASEC goal, while the Ivorians tried to hold out for the lottery of penalties on the atrocious pitch. But two minutes into injury time, Elokan grabbed his second with a header that ensured that spot kicks would not be necessary. And four minutes later, with ASEC entirely defeated, substitute Zouit volleyed a deft flick past Kone to confirm Raja's passage to the final -- and an all- North African encounter with Zamalek.
