CAIRO: Sunday's football match between Al Ahly of Egypt and Libya's Al Ittihad, was at first gruesome for Al Ahly, who needed three goals. Defeat would have meant Al Ahly, the 6-time African champions, would sit out the group stages for the second consecutive year. The first half was made up of a lot of failed attempts by Al Ahly. Al Ahly played a defensive game, but managed to keep the ball on the other side for much of the first half. However, with the missed goals the score was even going into the second half 0-0. During the break Al Ahly seemed to grow pessimistic, but kept their faith. The odds of Al Ahly going to the grouping stages were against them. In the Second half it seemed Al Ahly found their rhythm. A goal by early goal in the team seemed to amp up their efforts. Al Ahly did not let up after the first one, Al Ahly tasted blood. A near missed goal, less than a minute after the first goal was made, had the Al Ahly fans going mad—they wanted more. The fans were not let down and the second goal soon followed. Ahly was not out of the woods though. They needed a 3-0 to over come their 2-0 loss. 19-year-old Shehab El-Din Ahmed responded by smashing a goal with just seconds to spare sending the 80,000 into insanity. Ahly overcame stark half-time odds and are now gearing up for the group stages. The competition looks fierce and the climb through the rounds will only get harder. Six of the eight qualifiers for the group stage are former African champions. BM
