7 -13 December 2000
Issue No.511
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Beaten to the punch
By Abeer AnwarA cup final between two former African champions should always produce thrills and possibly a touch of drama. Algerian soccer club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) versus Egypt's Ismaili was no exception.
JSK won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup, beating Ismailia on away goals over two legs. At home on Friday, JSK ground out a 0-0 draw after the away match two weeks ago finished 1-1.
Although goals were scarce, the action was not. The Algerians squandered several scoring chances as they struggled to get past a stubborn Ismailia defence. One golden opportunity was missed by Ismaili defender Mohamed Barakat in the 85th minute, his shot hitting the post before a hushed 80,000 fans in the July 5th stadium.
Like most Algerian-Egyptian football encounters, this one was tense and at times ugly. "It was not a football match, it was a fight," John Otaka, the Egyptian club's leading Nigerian import, said of the often rough tackling by the Algerians and unruly fans who hurled projectiles and abuse after the game. "The referee pretended not to see anything," Otaka added.
Three Ismaili club officials were taken to hospital suffering from injuries incurred after stones and bottles were thrown on to the pitch following the match. So intimidating was the atmosphere and apparently so lax was security that Ismaili players refused to collect their silver medals from officials in the stadium. They remained on the field for more than an hour before police escorted them to their dressing rooms.
JSK won the African Champions' Cup twice in 1981 and 1990 and the African Cup Winners' Cup five years ago. Eleven times national champions who have won four domestic cups, they are the second African side to complete an African club competition treble.
Ismaili, the first Egyptian club to win the Champions' League trophy -- the feat accomplished in 1969 -- was hoping to achieve another Egyptian first by winning the CAF.
The Algerians believed nothing will stand between them and victory, and coach Nasser Sandjak, who replaced Ahmed Belayachi -- fired a couple of weeks ago -- probably spoke the mind of thousands of team supporters when he practically assured victory before the game. "We have our two hands on the trophy already," Sandjak said. "Perhaps it is said somewhere that JSK should win a continental trophy every five years and this was a chance to keep to tradition."
The CAF Cup is the most recent of the three Pan-African club competitions, offering a trophy donated by the late Chief Moshood Abiola to the winner of a knock-out involving Africa's league runners-up. The Cup Winners' Cup and CAF Champions' League finals will be concluded over the following two weekends.
CAF Cup hall of fame:
1992: Shooting Stars (Nigeria)
1993: Stella (Côte d'Ivoire)
1994: Bendel Insurance (Nigeria)
1995: Etoile Sportive du Sahel (Tunisia)
1996: Kawkab Marrakesh (Morocco)
1997: Esperance (Tunisia)
1998: CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
1999: Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia)
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