Egyptian club Ahli said goodbye to the African Champions League after being held 1-1 at home by Esperance of Tunisia, Abeer Anwar reports It was a sorrow night for Ahli who failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the African Champions League, missing a golden opportunity to add to their record six crowns in their final Group B match. Although playing at home, Ahli players could not score the needed two goals to seal their semi-final qualification. Ahli finished with seven points to finish third in the group, behind Esperance which ended top, having recorded 10 points, followed by Wydad Casablanca of Morocco which on seven points, scampered into the semis with a better goal average than Ahli. Esperance opened the goal scoring on the 17th minute through Yaya Banana while Mohamed Abu Treika, Ahli's star who has been criticised for being too old to continue playing, scored the equaliser nine minutes after half-time. Ahli players lost six great chances to score in the second half, especially a goal-line clearance from a Mohamed Fadl header and striker Dominique da Silva's late attempt. Ahli's elimination was sealed after Wydad Casablanca were beaten 3-1 by Mouloudia Alger of Algeria in the Group A game. Two goals by Mohamed Babouche and a third by Herve Oussale in the second half had given Mouloudia a 3-1 lead up to the 79th minute when the Moroccans pulled one back through a penalty converted by skipper Ahmed Ajeddou. But the result did not mean much for the Algerians who finished bottom of the group with five points. For the second year running, Esperance thus managed to stop Ahli in the Champions League, taking them out in the semi-finals last year. Manuel Jose, Ahli's Portuguese coach, was quoted attributing the loss the year to his players whom he said lost a number of golden chances that if converted, would have put the red shirts in the semis. "The team comprises a number of new faces that lack the experience of African matches as this was there first appearance," Jose said. Although he was blamed by a number of critics in the Egyptian press for his tactical changes, Jose appeared non-pulsed and promised fans that Ahli will return to win the national cup competition. He added that it was normal for big teams like Ahli to lose "as this is sports. You can't be the winner forever." Esperance coach Nabil Maaloul said that his team was now halfway towards winning the title they lost last season to DR Congo's TP Mazembe. Maaloul told cafonline.com after the game that he expected the Cairo game to go the way it did with what he thought Ahli would do spot on. "I predicted how the game would go and had told that to my players before the game. It was a tough match for both teams as they searched for the qualification ticket. We had a good game till the last minute when we knew that WAC was losing to MC Alger which motivated Ahli players. We tried to stop their key players Ahmed Fathi, Sayed Moawad and Abou Treika and we did that well... and also had some scoring chances." Esperance will meet Al Hilal of Sudan in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the Group A phase of the competition ended. Two-time champions Enyimba of Nigeria will take on Morocco's Wydad Casablanca in next month's other semi-final game. Enyimba confirmed their dominance of the group with a 2-0 win over Cameroon's Coton Sport. Al Hilal managed to qualify for the last four after they held Raja of Morocco to a goalless draw while their closest rivals Coton Sport were beaten in Aba on Sunday. The semi-final takes place in October with the champions of the competition being decided on the weekend of 11-13 November.
