IFFHS CONTINENTAL NEWS - CAF CONFEDERATIONS CUP
Zamalek SC win TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
The Egyptian side overturned their first leg deficit of 2-1 incurred a week earlier away to
Moroccan side RS Berkane, defeating the latter 1-0 to prevail on the away-goal rule. The fixture
which was a re-make of the 2019 final still won then by Zamalek but on penalties witnessed a lot
of drama with chances trifled away as they were created. It took 26 minutes for Ahmed Hamdi to
shoot for the skies as he adroitly intercepted a volley. RS Berkane, twice winners in 2020 and
2022 fell short of the requirements in a match which the boisterous home setting constantly saw
slipping through their fingers.
But then and as coaches Martins Teixeira Gomes and Stéphane Bikey chest-pounded over only
the second Zamalek win of the competition, behavioral patterns amongst players, spectators and
officials of the victorious side simmered beyond proportions prompting CAF to “condemn
unacceptable security breaches during and after the game and have referred the matter to the
relevant CAF bodies for investigation and necessary disciplinary measures, if need be”.
It would be recalled that the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup emerged from the 2004
fusion of the Cup of Winners Cup created in 1975 and the CAF Cup created in 1992.