Though Ahli have the advantage in the CAF Champions League second leg final, Coton Sport are not helpless or hopeless, Ahmed Morsy reports Egyptian champions Ahli have a decisive lead in the CAF Champions League final after defeating Cameroon's Coton Sport 2-0 in the first leg in Cairo. However, Sunday's mission won't be a walk in the park since Coton will clash with Ahli in the 35,000- capacity Omnisports Stadium in Garoua, where they have not lost an international fixture since March 2002. The final encounter is scheduled for 4pm Cairo time. Five-time African champions Ahli are on course for a sixth African triumph, a record. They could have reached the milestone last year but for an Etoile du Sahel side who, on the day, proved to be the hungrier of the two gladiators. Ahli won the African Champions trophy in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2005 and 2006. Victory over their Cameroonian rivals this year will not only earn them a cash prize of $1 million but they will surpass bitter local rivals Zamalek who have also won the tournament five times. Besides the handsome cash reward, the winner of the final will also represent Africa at this year's FIFA World Club Cup in December in Japan. Etoile and Ahli have featured in this competition by virtue of their previous continental conquests with the Egyptians finishing a commendable third in Japan two years ago. Against Nigeria's Enyimba in the semi-final this year, the Red Devils were certainly more at ease in the first leg in Aba but laboured to win the return leg with an opportunistic goal by the Angolan striker Flavio Amado. Coton Sport, from the northern Cameroon town of Garoua, have already made history as the first club from the country to reach this stage of the competition since 1980 when their more illustrious cousins, Canon Yaoundé, won the last of their three titles. They made easy work of Dynamos Harare in the semi-finals by winning 5- 0 on aggregate. After snatching a lone goal victory in Harare, they showed they were truly at home by spanking the Glamour Boys of Zimbabwe 4-0 in the second leg. Coton Sport have dominated the Cameroonian scene since 1997. Founded in 1986, they reached the final of the now redesigned CAF Cup in 2001 and have posted eight appearances in the Champions League with their best outing coming in 2004 when they got to the third round of the elimination series. They have won the Cameroonian league nine times and were consecutive winners in the past five years. They have also lifted the FA Cup four times in the last five years. Ahli decided to postpone the date of their journey to Cameroon until tomorrow after it was scheduled for today. The decision came after Coton said it will not organise accommodation or transport for Ahli during their Cameroon visit. Ahli's administrative manager Emad El-Yamani said the club board will make its own arrangements in cooperation with the Egyptian embassy in Cameroon. Before the first leg, Coton Sport refused to stay in the hotel Ahli allocated for them and opted to check in the Olympic village in Ismailia. They took a bus provided by the Cameroonian Embassy and headed straight to Ismailia. A similar situation occurred during the competition's semi-finals, when Enyimba refused to use any facilities provided by Ahli. In the first leg of the second best African club football tournament, the Confederation Cup, Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel held their local rivals CS Sfaxien to a 0-0 draw in Tunisia in the first leg of the final. Etoile are now in strong position to win their third African title in a row as they host the second leg on 22 November in Stade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse. The winner will collect $330,000 and secure a berth in next February's African Super Cup, where they will meet the Champions League holders. Etoile lifted the Confederation Cup in 2006 while CS Sfaxien are the holders of the Confederation Cup from 2007. The two teams met in the African Super Cup earlier this year when Etoile beat Sfaxien 2-1.
