2006 CAF Champions League final

The 2006 CAF Champions League Final was a football tie held over two legs in December 2006. Al-Ahly of Egypt beat CS Sfaxien of Tunisia 2-1.

2006 CAF Champions League Final
7 November Stadium hosted the podium where Al Ahly lifted the trophy
Event2006 CAF Champions League
on aggregate
First leg
Date29 October 2006
VenueCairo International Stadium, Cairo
RefereeModou Sowe (Gambia)
Attendance74,000
Second leg
Date11 November 2006
VenueStade 7 November, Tunis
RefereeCoffi Codjia (Benin)
Attendance60,000
2005
2007

Qualified teams

edit

In the following table, finals until 1996 were in the African Cup of Champions Club era, since 1997 were in the CAF Champions League era.

Team Region Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
  Al Ahly UNAF (North Africa) 1982, 1983, 1987, 2001, 2005
  CS Sfaxien UNAF (North Africa) none

Background

edit

Al-Ahly were the defending champions after winning the compatriot of CS Sfaxien, Étoile du Sahel 3–0, reaching a total of five finals, winning four (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005) and losing one (1983) while CS Sfaxien reached the final for the first time ever. Both teams met in the Group stage, with each victorious in their home matches - CS Sfaxien winning 1–0, while Al Ahly won 2–1. Both teams qualified for the semifinals on the second-last matchday. In the semifinals CS Sfaxien defeated Orlando Pirates 1–0 on aggregate, winning the second leg at home by that score, with the first leg ending in a scoreless draw. Al Ahly faced ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast and won the first leg 2–0 at home. In the second leg, Al Ahly lost 1–2 but reached the final.

Venues

edit

Cairo International Stadium

edit
 
International Stadium in Cairo, Egypt hosted the first leg.

Cairo International Stadium, formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000.[1] The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March, who had built from 1934 to 1936 the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Before becoming an all seater stadium, it had the ability to hold over 100,000 spectators, reaching a record of 120,000. It is the foremost Olympic-standard facility befitting the role of Cairo, Egypt as the center of events in the region. It is also the 69th largest stadium in the world. Located in Nasr City; a suburb north east of Cairo, it was completed in 1960, and was inaugurated by President Gamal Abd El Nasser on 23 July that year, the eighth anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Zamalek SC currently use the Petro Sport Stadium for most of their home games and Al Ahly use Al Salam Stadium for most of their home games.

7 November Stadium

edit
 
7 November Stadium in Radès, Tunisia hosted the second leg.

7 November Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Radès, Tunis, Tunisia about 10 kilometers south-east of the city center of Tunis, in the center of the Olympic City. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has facilities for athletics. The stadium holds 60,000 and was built in 2001 for the 2001 Mediterranean Games and is considered to be one of the best stadiums in Africa. The stadium was built for the 2001 Mediterranean Games, the 60,000-seat covered area covers 13,000 m2 and consists of a central area, 3 adjoining grounds, 2 warm-up rooms, 2 paintings and an official stand of 7,000 seats. The press gallery is equipped with 300 desks.

Club Africain and ES Tunis play their major league matches here. Before the construction of this stadium, the Tunis derby used to be played in the 45,000 seat-capacity Stade El Menzah. It is also the stadium of Tunisia national football team since 2001.

This stadium has hosted matches of the 2004 African Cup of Nations which was won by the Tunisian team.

The management of CS Sfaxien confirmed that it was necessary to transfer the match from the Stade Taïeb Mhiri in Sfax, which was held by all the matches of the team in the African competition this season to the Radès Stadium, because the capacity of the Radès Stadium is 60,000 spectators, while the capacity of the Stade Taïeb Mhiri does not exceed 20,000, which is what confirms the organization of the match on the field of the stadium of Sfax was difficult.

Road to the final

edit

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.

  Al-Ahly Round   CS Sfaxien
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying rounds Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Bye Preliminary round   AS-FNIS 7–1 3–1 (A) 4–0 (H)
  Tusker FC 5–0 2–0 (A) 3–0 (H) First round   DC Motema Pembe 2–1 1–1 (H) 1–0 (A)
  Renacimiento FC 4–0 0–0 (A) 4–0 (A) Second round   FAR Rabat 2–1 1–1 (H) 1–0 (A)
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
  CS Sfaxien 0–1 (A) Matchday 1   Al-Ahly 1–0 (H)
  JS Kabylie 2–0 (H) Matchday 2   Asante Kotoko 2–4 (A)
  Asante Kotoko 0–0 (A) Matchday 3   JS Kabylie 1–0 (A)
  Asante Kotoko 4–0 (H) Matchday 4   JS Kabylie 2–0 (H)
  CS Sfaxien 2–1 (H) Matchday 5   Al-Ahly 1–2 (A)
  JS Kabylie 2–2 (A) Matchday 6   Asante Kotoko 2–1 (H)
Group A runner-up

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   CS Sfaxien 6 4 0 2 9 7 +2 8 Advance to knockout stage
2   Al Ahly 6 3 2 1 10 4 +6 8
3   Asante Kotoko 6 2 1 3 7 10 −3 5
4   JS Kabylie 6 1 1 4 4 9 −5 3
Source: [citation needed]
Final standings Group A winner

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   CS Sfaxien 6 4 0 2 9 7 +2 8 Advance to knockout stage
2   Al Ahly 6 3 2 1 10 4 +6 8
3   Asante Kotoko 6 2 1 3 7 10 −3 5
4   JS Kabylie 6 1 1 4 4 9 −5 3
Source: [citation needed]
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knock-out stage Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
  ASEC Mimosas 3–2 2–0 (H) 1–2 (A) Semifinals   Orlando Pirates 1–0 0–0 (A) 0–1 (H)

Format

edit

The final was decided over two legs, with aggregate goals used to determine the winner. If the sides were level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule would have been applied, and if still level, the tie would have proceeded directly to a penalty shootout (no extra time is played).[2]

Matches

edit

First leg

edit
Al-Ahly  1–1  CS Sfaxien
Aboutrika   27' Report Frimpong   53'
Attendance: 74,000
Referee: Modou Sowe (Gambia)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Al-Ahly
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CS Sfaxien
GK 1   Essam El Hadary
DF 26   Wael Gomaa
DF 7   Shady Mohamed
DF 6   Mohamed Sedik
DF 29   Ahmed Shedid   71'
DF 25   Hossam Ashour
MF 17   Mohamed Shawky
MF 22   Mohamed Aboutrika
MF 8   Mohamed Barakat   81'
MF 23   Flávio
FW 19   Emad Meteb   81'
Substitutes:
FW 2   Islam El-Shater   71'
MF 24   Ahmed Hassan   81'
MF 10   Wael Riad   81'
Manager:
  Manuel José
GK 1   Ahmed Jaouachi
DF 4   Wissem Abdi  
DF 26   Issam Merdassi
DF 7   Fateh Gharbi
DF 2   Amir Haj Massaoud
DF 25   Chedi Hammami
MF 17   Anis Boujelbene
MF 5   Haythem Mrabet
MF 8   Abdelkarim Nafti
MF 22   Joetex Asamoah Frimpong   90'
FW 23   Tarek Ziadi   76'
Substitutes:
MF 9   Blaise Kouassi   76'
FW 6   Chaker Bargaoui   90'
Manager:
  Mrad Mahjoub

Assistant referees:
Lamine Camara (Gambia)
Hday Menah (Gambia)
Fourth official:
Sadek Abd Nabi (Egypt)

Second leg

edit
CS Sfaxien  0–1  Al-Ahly
Report Aboutrika   90+2'
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Coffi Codjia (Benin)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CS Sfaxien
 
 
 
 
 
 
Al Ahly
GK 1   Ahmed Jaouachi
DF 4   Bechir Mechergui
DF 26   Issam Merdassi
DF 7   Fateh Gharbi  
DF 2   Amir Haj Massaoud
DF 25   Chedi Hammami   90+5'
MF 17   Anis Boujelbene  
MF 5   Haythem Mrabet
MF 8   Abdelkarim Nafti
MF 22   Joetex Asamoah Frimpong
FW 23   Tarek Ziadi   81'
Substitutes:
MF 9   Blaise Kouassi   95'
FW 6   Hamza Younes   81'
Manager:
  Mrad Mahjoub
GK 1   Essam El Hadary
DF 26   Wael Gomaa
DF 7   Shady Mohamed
DF 6   Mohamed Sedik   71'
DF 29   Ahmed Shedid
DF 25   Mohamed Abdallah   64'
MF 17   Hossam Ashour
MF 22   Akwetey Mensah   43'
MF 8   Hassan Mostafa   81'
MF 23   Mohamed Aboutrika
FW 19   Flávio
Substitutes:
FW 2   Emad Meteb   43'
MF 24   Islam El-Shater   64'
MF 10   Wael Riad   71'
Manager:
  Manuel José

Assistant referees:
Hong Adogovi (Benin)
Shanti Adrian (Benin)
Fourth official:
Jalloul Azouz (Tunisia)

Notes and references

edit
  1. ^ "International Cairo Stadium". www.cairo-stadium.org.eg. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  2. ^ Regulations of the CAF Champions League