21 - 27 December 2000
Issue No.513
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 December 2000 Issue No.513 |
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A cut above the rest
Three late goals from Hearts of Oak earned the Ghanaian club a first-ever African Champions League title as it came from behind to beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-1 in an extraordinary, incident-packed match.
Before the chaos, decent footballRiot police tangle with Esperance officials
At the end, a heartfelt kiss
The second-leg victory -- Hearts won 2-1 in Tunisia in the first-leg -- gave Hearts a 5-2 aggregate triumph, but the game was held up for 20 minutes after rioting broke out and police fired tear gas some 15 minutes from time with Esperance leading 1-0 and going all out for the second goal it needed.
Esperance later protested to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), seeking to have the result annulled.
Esperance goalkeeper Chokri Al-Ouaer cut himself above the eye in a bizarre attempt to get the game abandoned, but officials saw what he was up to and took no action.
The Tunisian club claimed in their protest that Al-Ouaer had been hit by a flying object thrown from the crowd.
Esperance could be fined and Al-Ouaer could be banned for a lengthy period if it was found he had inflicted the wound on himself, officials said.
A small group of travelling Tunisian fans scaled the fences to seek refuge. During the melee one supporter ran onto the pitch and handed an object to Al-Ouaer, with which he cut a gash on the side of his face. The goalkeeper, who played at the World Cup finals in France two years ago, ran to the centre of the field with blood streaming from the wound, collapsing at the halfway line.
But referee Robin Williams and linesman Achmat Sallie, as well as officials and journalists on the side of the pitch saw the incident and the only result was that he had to leave the pitch injured. The match commissioner, Patrick Okpomo of Nigeria, said afterwards it would be reported to CAF.
When the game resumed, Hearts then quickly scored three goals to secure the continent's flagship club trophy.
Captain Emmanuel Osei Kuffour equalised with seven minutes remaining and then toyed with the stand-in goalkeeper to score a second minute from time. Ishmael Addo had an equally easy tap-in from close range, adding the third in stoppage time.
In between, Esperance had winger Walid Azaiez sent off for a headbutt on a Hearts defender, and it took three minutes for the furious player to leave the pitch. He then punched a policeman as he left the ground.
Esperance had been in control of the game before the bizarre turn of events, scoring early in the first half with a flying header by Gabsi and controlling the game after half-time with Brazilian import Adailton imperious in the middle.
They looked strong contenders for a second goal, which would have put them ahead on aggregate and given them a second African title.
Hearts' win means they now play in the Club World Championship in Spain next year.
(Compiled from wire services)
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