African Confed Cup 1st Leg: Advantage Sfax

The first leg of the African Confederation Cup final was played today in Sudan between El Merreikh and Tunisian club side Club Sportif Sfaxien. CSS is the same team that had the trophy of the more prestigious Champions league well within their grasp last year before a late Aboutrika strike made Al Ahly champions. While they’re not qualified for Champions league play, CSS has been impressive on the continent. Coming into the final they was tied with El Merreikh for most goal in the group stage but boasted a better goal difference. Despite having a brilliant strike force CSS have been through a tumultuous couple of weeks as their form in the Tunisian domestic league has left a lot to be desired.

With their fans unhappy and calling for their coach’s resignation, CSS players reacted in the best way possible today. Facing a solid El Merreikh side (coached by none other than soon to be Cameroon boss “disco man” Otto Pfister), CSS scored a goal within the first minute and never turned back. The goal was so quick in fact that no one got to see it happen live (unless you’re counting the supporters in the stadium). There must have been some kind of technical or coordination problem at the ART Sport studios as the opening kickoff was missed by the cameras. As soon as the images switched from the analysts to the field all you could see was a celebration from Mbele of CSS. My confusion must have been truly dwarfed by the stunned Sudanese fans. Things went from bad to worse for the Sudanese side in a matter of minutes as the team from the “capital of the south” took a shock 2-0 lead after good work from Karim Nafti that lead to a goal by Kouassi. Two goals in five minutes? Wasn’t this billed as a tough final? Apparently Merreikh had lost the plot.

The third CSS goal had the Tunisian side up 3 to nothing with only 23 minutes played. Needless to say, the crowd was disgusted. Full credit to them though as they did not desert their team in these dire circumstances. I bet Otto Pfister would have loved to go call it a night and go home too but instead he just settled for a cigarette on the sidelines (you gotta love it when coaches do that)! Not that El Merreikh didn’t look dangerous at times, it’s just that CSS controlled the midfield much better and defended rather well when the Sudanese side had their attacking spurts. With Nafti orchestrating things in midfield, the half ended and I still couldn’t believe what I had just watched.

To put this into perspective, El Merreikh has only lost at home four times in its history in all continental competitions. Even though there were 45 minutes left to play, it seemed inevitable that this would have to be their painful fifth. With nothing to lose though, El Merreikh were sure to come out fighting in the second half and that they did. The score was quickly three to one off a beautiful left footed strike from Brazilian Paulino. The goal seemed to bring life back into the stadium and even with the unexpected advantage one got the feeling that El Merreikh still had more to say in this match.

However, just as they were getting back into the flow of things, Kouassi stuck the dagger as he rose high too meet a corner kick and bounce the ball off the pitch and into the net. Four to one in the fortress of Om Dormane? This just wasn’t a regular afternoon. Merreikh managed another goal from the penalty spot but it was little more than consolation. Merreikh showed throughout the match that they could attack and score, sadly their defenders couldn’t prove their ability to stop the potent CSS counter attack. Frankly, I think that CSS recent form made a lot of people forget that they travel better than practically any Tunisian side does or has. They recently had to erase what was effectively a two goal deficit against Mamelodi Sundowns just to secure their place in this year’s final.

The victory wasn’t easy per se but it was definitely easier than expected and the scoreline was truly beyond comprehension. It was especially more staggering after watching ESS and Al Ahly play such a cagey affair in Sousse. This one was far from it. The Sudanese fans showed true class though as they even applauded some of the technical moves by man of the match and hat trick hero Blaise Kouassi. The Ivorian truly lit up the match with his quickness, dribbling and finishing ability.

This result makes CSS firm favorites for the Cup and the place in the upcoming African Super Cup. It’s not a done deal but I’d be very surprised if Merreikh can beat CSS by a three goal margin in Sfax. I just don’t see it, but then again I didn’t see this match ending up this way. Nothing is won yet, but this ain’t a bad way to start! The teams meet again on the 24th of November.

Goals (minus 1)

The first one is missing for reasons that I cited above. Surprising that ART messed that up. I guess it wouldn’t be a big deal if the goal didn’t happen in those opening seconds. Even the commentator (a Tunisian) was pissed he didn’t get to experience the joy of screaming “Gooooaaaaalll” live. Oh well, he got three other chances to express his happiness. If I find better highlights I’ll supply them as soon as I can.