Al-Merrikh of Sudan and Sfaxien of Tunisia joined Ismaili in the African Confederation Cup group phase, to complete a hat-trick of Arab teams in the last eight stage. In Khartoum, Merreikh beat Tanzania's Young Africans 2-0 to go through with the same aggregate score line following a first leg goalless draw. Sudanese international Faisal Ajab scored the opener in the 27th minute, Abdul-Hamid Al-Soudei added the second eight minutes later to seal the win. In Sfax, the home side faced no problems in overturning their 2-1 first leg defeat at Cotton Sport of Cameroon, as the 2006 Champions League runners-up thrashed the Cameroonians 4-0 to go through 5-2 on aggregate. Star man Abdul-Karim Al-Nafti gave the home side a 5th minute lead, Hamza Younes added two more on 11 and 57 minutes, and Hamza Sallami completed the damage six minutes from time. Another Cameroonian outfit were kicked out of the competition, as Astres Douala failed to complete a comeback from their 3-0 first leg defeat at Etoile de Congo, despite winning 2-0 in Douala, but the Congolese advanced with a 3-2 aggregate score. Elsewhere, EGS Gafsa were the second Moroccan team to exit the competition after Wydad Casablanca when they were held to a 1-1 draw with South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who won 2-1 at home to qualify 3-2 on aggregate. In Harare, Mazembe Engelbert followed their first leg 1-0 home win with a thumping 3-1 away victory over Zimbabwe's Mwana Africa. On Friday, Ismaili of Egypt were the first Arab team to qualify to the last 8 at the Wydad after the Dervishes won 2-0 in Ismailia to qualify with a 3-0 aggregate score line.
