Three Egyptian football clubs remain in the fray of African championships but a fourth has departed. Abeer Anwar reports Zamalek took a big step towards reaching the semi-finals of the African Champions League after an impressive 3-0 victory at home against Costa do Sol of Mozambique on Friday. The Egyptian side, a four-time winner of the championship, notched their third win of this year's campaign with goals from Wael El- Qabbani, veteran Hossam Hassan and Hazem Imam. The club, with 10 points, is now on the verge of securing one of the top two berths in Group B and a place in the last four of the $3 million competition in November. ASEC of Ivory Coast kept alive hopes of also reaching the semi- finals with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Esperance of Tunisia on Sunday. The result gave ASEC six points and left Esperance with seven. Pointless Costa do Sol is out of contention. While Esperance should have little difficulty defeating Costa do Sol in Tunis on 5 October, they complete their six-match programme away to Zamalek in Cairo. ASEC, the 1998 champion, host Zamalek in the next round and finish away to Costa do Sol, offering a realistic chance of amassing 12 points, sufficient to take them into the penultimate phase. All three goals on Friday came in a second half blitz as Zamalek completed the double over Group B's whipping boys, having beaten them 2-0 in Maputo. It was Costa do Sol's fourth consecutive defeat and the result also leaves them without a single goal to their credit while having conceded 11. Ibrahim Hassan, 36, whose running from the right fullback position caused big problems for the Mozambican defence throughout the match, tumbled over in the penalty area following a nudge in the back from defender Edmundo. It was enough to convince Algerian referee Mohamed Banouza to award a penalty. El-Qabbani came forward and calmly dispatched the spot kick past goalkeeper Alcino 'Antoninho' Guambeit. Hossam Hassan, Ibrahim's twin and once the world's most capped international, scored the second goal seven minutes later with a deft chip over Antoninho after a long ground pass from Imam which sliced through the defence. Imam, formerly with Italian club Udinese, marked his return after a long injury lay-off with the third goal on 77 minutes, also from the penalty spot. The kick, this time following a clear infraction, was awarded after a dangerous two-footed lunge on Walid Abdel-Latif by Antoninho. Zamalek's progress into the last four puts even more pressure on Cairo rivals and defending champions Ahli who are battling just to stay in contention in their Group A. On Saturday, Ahli failed to get a much-needed three points from TP Mazembe Englebert of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A tense yet technically drab game in Lubumbashi ended with both teams sharing the points as neither failed to rattle the nets. The draw, though a disappointment for Ahli, still kept their hopes alive of a place in the semi-final. In the same group, a controversial penalty 12 minutes from time handed Raja Casablanca a close-fought 2-1 win over Jeanne d'Arc of Senegal on Sunday to propel the Moroccan side to the top. Captain Abdel-Latif Jrindou converted the spot kick to secure a third successive win for Raja, who can gain a semi-final berth if they win their next match early next month. Raja now lead the group with nine points, two more than TP Mazembe who travel to Casablanca for their next match on 6 October. Ahli, meanwhile, jump into third spot with four points and must win their two remaining games if they have any chance of booking a semi-final spot. They next face Jeanne d'Arc in Dakar two weeks from now. The Senegalese are dead last with just three points. There was little visible action in the first 45 minutes in Cairo Stadium. Both teams were obviously wary of each other and a bumpy pitch provided for little flowing football. The ball spent most of its time either in the air or out of the field as both teams failed to properly control at Stade Kenya which is possibly one of the worst soccer venues in the world. Defenders on both sides were evidently instructed to clear any ball whatsoever in order to prevent dangerous breakaways. The game's first clear-cut chance came on 25 minutes, and favoured the home side, as Ektushu's header was picked off the line by Yasser Radwan, with the ball luckily deflecting into goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari's arms. Ektushu and El-Hadari had many run-ins throughout the game, as the strongly built DR Congo striker rammed into the Egyptian goalie on more than one occasion. More action came in the latter half of the game, as both teams seemed to adapt better to the pitch conditions. Mohamed Farouk could have easily put the visitors up front on 47 minutes after heading a Gilberto free kick inches wide of the post while being totally unmarked. Both defensive lines took most of the heat but team skippers Hadi Khashaba and Felix Muamba marshalled their back lines excellently. El-Hadari, too, was certainly eligible for the man of the match award, as he came off his line twice to clear the ball. New Ahli Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere finally realised his offensive deficit and decided to bring in Angolan international Avelino Lopes in place of an out of form Farouk on 73 minutes. Two minutes later, Ahmed Belal provided the most impressive moment of the game as he sent a cracking 25-yard shot ramming into Mayala's left post, silencing the 25,000 TP faithfuls in the stands. Mayala was back in action less than 10 minutes later, after Gilberto managed to sneak behind the TP defence to send in a ball that the goalkeeper brilliantly kicked out for a corner. Sensing the pressure, the home side begin pressuring the Ahli defence in the final five minutes but to no avail, with the final whistle dishing out a point apiece to both teams. Ahli's report card will show that their midfield was appalling, with no offensive support whatsoever. Belal and Farouk were caught between the well-built Muamba, Tsholola and Bageta, and failed to connect with each other. The Red's defence was well-structured, with Khashaba, Wael Gomaa and Shadi Mohamed performing well in the back. Fullbacks Mohamed Omara and Radwan, though, seemed more interested in clearing the ball out into the stands than building a well-planned attack. Hossam Ghali and Sayed Abdel- Hafeez played solid but uninspiring football and were guilty of poor passing on many occasions. It was evident that Bonfrere was counting on the home side to blunder, with Belal and/or Farouk capitalising, but his calculations proved wrong as the pitch could -- and eventually would never -- support a counterbreak. The home side were also well- structured defensively but were extremely haphazard when it came to offece. Ektushu caused havoc up front, but once again, seemed more concerned with bashing El-Hadari in the ribs than scoring. Mazembe coach Joseph Mukeba can be credited with keeping the runs of Radwan and Omara at bay, plus focusing on preventing any long ball from reaching either Farouk or Belal, who scored the lone goal in Ahli's 1-0 win over TP in Cairo a fortnight ago. A third Egyptian side, Misri, reached the semi-final of the Confederation Cup after beating Madagascar's AS Adema 2-0 to win 3-0 on aggregate. In Port Said Stadium in front of 5,000 spectators, Misri settled the issue early on, netting a brace in the sixth and 25th minute by Walid Abul- Ela and Mohamed Sha'er, then settled back the rest of the way. No Egyptian club has ever won the Confederation Cup, a tournament made for teams which finish second in their leagues. Though Ghazl Al-Mehalla outclassed Ghana's Kotoko 4-2, it became the first of the four sides Egypt sent to three African club competitions this year to crash out, in this case out of the Cup Winners Cup. Kotoko had won the first leg in Ghana 3-0 and the two timely goals it collected in Mehalla were enough to see the former champions through to the semis. In Mehalla for the second leg, Mehalla was up 3-0 early in the second half and was poised to stage a remarkable comeback. Mohamed El- Etrawi headed home early and Amir Salah's penalty after a handball started the team's rally. In the second half, El-Etrawi added the team's third goal in the first minute with a clever chip of the ball which looped high over the goalkeeper. But Michael Olies brought one back for his team in the 66th minute as he got to the ball faster than the defence and goalkeeper Sayed El- Etrawi. Mehalla made it interesting at 4-1, needing to score just one more for a better aggregate, but Olies had the final say, in the 77th minute, needing only to round the goalkeeper after finding himself totally clear with the ball.
