The club became the first Egyptian football team to play after the Port Said tragedy, reports Abeer Anwar In the wake of Egypt's worst football violence, Zamalek became the first Egyptian football team to play in an official game, drawing 1-1 with Tanzania's Young Africans in round 64 of the first leg of the African Champions league in the National Stadium in Dar el Salaam. The shocking Port Said massacre in which at least 74 fans were killed on 1 February, suspended all sports in the country. As such, Zamalek started the match wearing black armbands. The players of both teams observed a minute of silence for the victims. Young Africans had hopes of being the first Tanzanian team to beat an Egyptian opponent. Young Africans were highly energised especially after they were promised $2,500 each as a bonus for winning. Their coach, Serbian Kostadin Papic, told the players that this was their golden opportunity since the Egyptian team was not in form and the players' morale was low especially after the Port Said incident. Young Africans launched several attacks on Zamalek defenders especially in the first half, but their shots were handled well by Zamalek's goalie Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed. Zamalek's imported Zambian player Davis Mwape threatened the Tanzanians' net but the attacks failed to be translated into goals. Young Africans' continuous efforts paid off on the 36th minute after a high right flank cross by Ugandan Hamis Kiiza lobbed luckily over El-Sayed into the net. This was Zamalek's first African appearance under former national team coach Hassan Shehata, who made a number of changes at the start of the second half to raise his team's tempo. Amr Zaki was among the new second half faces who played a key role in the second half and scored Zamalek's equaliser in the 73rd minute. "It is very rare to get five clear chances in a Champions League match. My attackers could not turn those opportunities into goals. I know it will be a battle in Cairo in the return leg but I assure you I will prepare my players for it," Papic told reporters in a post-match conference in which he was quoted by cafonline.com. "This is a good result for us. We were playing against a good team, a good coach, but we played very well. I wanted this result," Shehata told the BBC. Because of security concerns Zamalek, former African champions, do not know where they will play the second leg of their tie. "We are waiting for CAF's decision whether we will play in Cairo," Shehata said. Sudan's Merrikh club president Gamal Wali had invited Egyptian teams taking part in the two major African football club competitions to play in Sudan. Wali's announcement came during a press conference held at the end of Egypt's Haras El-Hodoud one- week training camp in Sudan. Wali said Sudan had always been "a part of Egypt and will continue to be and we're willing to help the Egyptians until Egypt regains stability and recovers from its pain. We are sure Egypt will get through this stage quickly and safely but until then we're willing and there to help." Merrikh and Helal played two matches against Haras El-Hodoud, the current league leaders. The money went to help the families of those who were killed in Port Said. Elsewhere, Kenya's Tusker failed to benefit from home advantage in their tie with APR of Rwanda after the game finished 0-0. In other results, Uganda's Revenue Authority beat Correctional Services of Lesotho 3-0 in the first leg of their tie. Manco Kaweesa, Sula Bagala and Augustin Nsumba got the goals. In Freetown, Sierra Leone's Ports Authority were held to a goalless draw by Horoya of Guinea. The two Algerian clubs in this year's champions league, AS Chlef and JSM Bejaia , both secured 0-0 draws away from home, against ASFA of Burkina Faso and Foullah of Chad respectively. Title holders Esperance of Tunisia along with a number of other top-ranked sides, enjoyed a bye in round 64 but will join the tournament in the next stage.
