JOHANNESBURG: African Champions League holders Al-Ahly of Egypt were hailed by assistant coach Hossam Al-Badry on Sunday after starting their title defense with an impressive double over Young Africans of Tanzania. While a 3-0 home win three weeks ago in the second-round qualifier came as no surprise, the Cairo Red Devils were more dominant than expected in a return match won 1-0 through a Flavio Amado goal. The experience of my players helped them control the game and this was evident in our neatly worked counterattacks which threatened Young Africans regularly, Al-Badry told Egyptian television. He was puzzled why a second Ahly goal from star midfielder Mohamed Abou-Trika was disallowed midway through the first half in the Indian Ocean port of Dar es-Salaam. We scored a legitimate goal from one of those counterattacks and I do not know why the referee disallowed it, said the assistant to Portguese coach Manuel Jose. Young Africans Serb coach Dusan Kondic said Ahly, who face Kano Pillars of Nigeria in the final qualifying round this month, must be favorites to win a record seventh title. I acknowledge the quality of Ahly. They are a team on top of their game and other title contenders will want to avoid them. We faced a monumental task and the early goal killed us, he told Tanzanian reporters. The tie was a harsh reality check for Yanga , who had scored a Champions League record 14 goals in the first round when humiliating minnows Etoile d Or Mirontsy from the Comoros Islands. Kondic angered officials and supporters of the Tanzanian club before the return match against Ahly by admitting publicly that his team had virtually no chance of overturning the deficit. But his prediction proved spot on as Ahly, virtually invincible in their Cairo Stadium fortress but often poor travelers, toyed with opponents who have never eliminated an Egyptian club. Young Africans dreams of a remarkable comeback on the National Stadium artificial pitch lasted just five minutes before they failed to clear a cross and Angolan striker Amado scored from close range. Abou-Trika, runner-up to Togo and Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor in the 2008 African Footballer of the Year poll, was ruled offside after converting a Felisberto Gilberto Amaral cross midway through the opening half. Other clubs to reach the third round were Heartland and Kano of Nigeria, Ahly of Libya, Merreikh of Sudan, Cotonsport of Cameroon, ESS of Tunisia, KCC of Uganda, TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo and Zesco of Zambia.
