Teams Ahli, Zamalek and ENPPI made Egyptian football fans happy by qualifying for the round of 16 of both the Orange CAF Confederation Cup and the Champions League, Abeer Anwar reports ENPPI made an easy start on the road to victory by sweeping to the next round of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup, after thrashing visiting Burundi side Lydia Academique 4-1 at the Military Sports Complex in Cairo. The victory came after the team underwent a tough moment when the Egyptian police initially refused to host the match in Cairo for security reasons, but then changed its mind. ENPPI's stars took advantage of Lydia's defensive errors. Ahmed Raouf shone, scoring a hat-trick for ENPPI, with two goals in the first half. Just five minutes into the game, Ahmed Abdel Zaher had broken the deadlock. The visiting side's Komana Youssef grabbed a late consolation goal, leaving ENPPI going through on a 5-2 aggregate win after the two sides played for a 1-1 draw fortnight ago in Bujumbura. Commenting on the match, Enppi's headcoach, Hossam El-Badry said: "I'm proud of my players. They've done their best to achieve this victory. In the second half our players were tired but they managed to score a fourth goal. We played under difficult circumstances, but our technical and psychological strength guided us to victory. I can promise nothing. All I can say is, we will proceed to the next round after beating Mali's Circle Bamako. After that I'll start thinking about what's next." Meanwhile Lydia Academique manager Olivier Niyungeko told cafonline.com that "ENPPI deserved to win. Their early goal gave them confidence, while for us that made us lose our concentration. From that moment on they controlled the game. Our performance was better in the second half but everything was over by then. We have gained good experience participating in the Confederation Cup." Entente de Setif of Algeria for its part tasted a bitter victory. Despite a 3-1 win against Simba SC of Tanzania , the visitors were the ones to qualify to the next round of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup. Club Olympique of Bamako (COB) qualified for the next round after beating Renaissance of N'Djamena 3-1 at the weekend at the 26 March Stadium of Bamako. The Chadian club won in the first leg match at home a fortnight ago with a 3-2 score line. Interclube FC of Angola was able to crush Tana Formation of Madagascar in the Orange CAF Confederation Cup. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg match played two weeks ago, Interclube managed to win 2-0 in regulation time and forced the encounter into penalty kicks. Home side goalie Tsherry was the hero, helping Interclube to emerge victorious at 6-5. Meanwhile Egypt's Ahli brought Egypt a second victory, by qualifying to the next round of the Orange CAF Champions League, defeating Ethiopian Coffee 3-0 at the Military Academy Stadium in Cairo at the weekend. Brazilian-born Fabio Junior opened scored first for the Egyptian Red Devils, just eight minutes into the game. Then Mohamed Abu Treika, who had seriously considered retirement after the Port Said massacre, scored a second goal in the second half from a penalty shot. Ahli goalkeeper Sherif Ikramy really shone by saving a number of shots, ending the match was a clean net. After 71 minutes Junior was there to help Abu Treika score his second and Ahli's third. In the second round, Ahli will face the winner of Benin's Tonerre FC and Stade Mali tie in the next round. Commenting on the match, Ahli coach Pedro Barny told cafonline.com: "We played a good game, especially in the second half. Playing without our supporters affected the players but they were strong enough to overcome that. Now we'll start thinking of the next round because we like to take the competition step by step. The Champions League is always a tough tournament, and this year it's even more difficult for us because of the current situation. We deserved to win today and I have to praise our players for their performance." Coffee's coach Wubetu Abate said: "I'm proud of my players. We were the better side till the penalty and the red card. It's very difficult to face a team like Ahli at home with 10 men. But our performance today was satisfying. We could have scored twice at least in the first half, and put the game beyond them. This is football and I have to accept the result." Zamalek, the third Egyptian team to qualify for the round of 16 of the African Champions League was defeated 1-2, but they managed to advance after an away goal. A late strike by Amr Zaki saved Zamalek from being kicked out of the competition against Africa Sports. A key reason for Zamalek's qualification was changes made by head coach Hassan Shehata. It renewed the players' enthusiasm, spurring them to do their best to win. Defending champions Esperance remained on course to defend their title, after coming from behind to beat Gambian champions, Brikama United in Rades. Esperance advanced 4-2 on aggregate. In Sousse, Etoile du Sahel killed off the hopes yet again of Rwandan champions APR with a 3-2 win, to advance by the same margin on aggregate. Hilal thrashed DFC Arrondisement of Central African Republic 5-1.The Blue Waves marched on 8-1 on aggregate. Merrikh also registered a 3- 0 win over Platinum FC of Zimbabwe to progress 5-2 on aggregate. Ivorian debutants AFAD recorded a 3-0 win over JSM Bejaia at the Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan. AFAD progressed 5-1 on aggregate. In Harare, Dynamos scored a lone goal over Liga Muculmana of Mozambique to advance 3-2 on aggregate. Coton Sport of Cameroon overpowered Dolphins of Nigeria to win on the away goal rule after a 2-2 tie. Elsewhere, Nigeria's Sunshine Stars thrashed Recreativo do Libolo of Angola 3-0 qualify on the away goal rule after a 4-4 tie. Mazembe advanced with a 5-0 win over Power Dynamos of Zambia. The four-time winners went through 7-1 on aggregate. DR Congo's AS Vita crashed out after losing 2-3 to Algeria's ASO Chlef in Kinshasa to advance 3-2 on aggregate. Moroccan Raja Athletic Club beat Ghanaian champions Berekum Chelsea 3-0 in Casablanca, but said farewell to the competition with a 5-3 loss on aggregate. Holders of the Orange CAF Confederation Cup MAS Fez also beat Horoya of Guinea 3-0 and progressed 4-1 on aggregate. Matches involving Stade Malien (Mali), Tonnerre (Benin), Djoliba AC (Mali) and URA (Uganda) have been rescheduled due to civil unrest in Mali.
