Batsirai Sango.
The Caf Champions league season 2022-23 is done and dusted and what a beautiful football extravaganza it was with footballing elites on the continent locking horns to determine who would be crowned continental Kings.
A season where rivalries were born others further cemented African football club competitions including the second tier the Caf Confederations are bringing a new thrill to them with every season. The Caf champions league is surely the champions league as the composition of the teams that made up the last 16 speaks for itself.
Your Mamelodi Sundowns, Zamalek, Al Ahly, Esperance, the two Casablanca clubs Wydad and Raja Casablanca all who have been African champions before with others like Coton Sport, AS Vita, Al Hilal having contested at the business end of proceedings in seasons gone by, it was surely a clash of the titans.
Then they were two, and it was a north African derby between Cairo giants Al Ahly of Egypt and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, and with Ahly having put another Casablanca club to the sword in the semifinals it was a question of would they make it double triumphs over their north African arch-rivals.
With the competition reverting back to the two-legged final Cairo giants Al Ahly had the honors of hosting the first leg at the Cairo international stadium and a sea of red shirts it was with Ahly fanatics packing the stands.
And what a Red Sunday it was as Al Ahly had to dig deep to getter the better of their rivals and it had to wait until the 4th minute of additional time in the first half for the deadlock to be broken, with Percy Tau putting a header past the goalkeeper Youssef El Motie from a sublime cross from El Shahat to make it one nil to the hosts.
And boy ooh boy what a reception from the Al Ahly fans with that nerve-settling goal from Percy Tau sending the whole Cairo international stadium into rapturous jubilation.
The game was swinging both ways as Casablanca also made their efforts to try wrestle the game with stand-in goalkeeper putting his body on the line to the red devils in control of the game, but it was the Cairo giants again in the second half as Kahraba put a shot past Wydad Casablanca’s goalie that came off the head of a teammate to make it 2nil to Ahly in the 59th minute. With the second goal Al Ahly were surely in command of their destiny.
With Percy Tau menacing on the right-wing Al Ahly should have ended the match as a contest when in the 73rd minute the South African winger got the better of marker to cut the ball back to Kahraba whose shot was on target, but the keeper was at the right place at the right time.
Wydad did manage to pull one back in the 86th minute through Bouhra and it was all to do for the Moroccan champions in the second leg a week later on the 11th of June and having triumphed over Al Ahly in 3 finals the last seven seasons Wydad fans would not have been blamed for being optimistic of a turnaround in the tie.
For Al Ahly it was more or less a case of breaking that jinx and getting over those odds supposedly or somewhat staked against them and the setting was the Casablanca Mohammed V stadium. Africa’s club of the century knew what the recent history of their meetings with Wydad entailed and went into the second leg very cognizant of that.
With Casablanca cheered on by a crowd as equal as to that of Al Ahly in the first leg at Cairo international stadium Wydad had every reason to believe they could turnaround the tie and in the 27th minute of the first half the Casablanca giants were in front through Attiat Allah.
It was now advantage Wydad as the aways goal rule is still in place in Caf champions league and Al Ahly had it all to do. With the recent history of the meetings between these two giants favoring the Moroccans it had to take some epic levels of positivity from Al Ahly. As the clock winded down with history seemingly about to repeat itself in agonizing fashion for Al Ahly losing a 4th final to the same opponents, they got a corner kick.
And it was that set piece that Ahly needed and in the 78th minute Mohammed Abdelmonem jumped the highest to head the ball into the far left and Al Ahly were minutes away from the cusp of glory. With 9 additional minutes added the travelling could not wait for the final whistle and what a moment of exhilaration as the red devils of Cairo won a record extending 11th title winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
The quality of competition and players is just a marvel and as next season beckons ones hopes to see the quality going a notch higher, and more players like Percy Tau who stands out in the just ended season are needed to make the competition exciting and attract the best talent not just on the continent but beyond.
Coach Pitso Mosimane stands vindicated from the Percy Tau’s exploits that led Al Ahly to Caf Champions league triumph. When he called Tau to come play for Al Ahly from English premiership side Brighton Hove and Albion many vilified coach Pitso saying why did he make him leave a competitive league to come play for Ahly.
His argument was would you rather have Percy Tau not having game time even worse loaned out to teams in leagues that do not even compete with the Egyptian league. Let him come and play for Al Ahly and make history and history he made playing a protagonist role in Al Ahly winning a record extending 11th Caf champions league title.
And for any neutrals he deserves player of the tournament in the just ended Caf champions league season and the rapturous reception from the Al Ahly fans in that final was simply overwhelming and Percy Tau’s name and contribution to cementing Ahly’s standing as the continent’s team of the century will live long in the hearts of the Al Ahly faithfuls.
