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2007 CAF Champions League final

The 2007 CAF Champions League Final was the final of the 2007 CAF Champions League, the 43rd edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 11th edition under the current CAF Champions League format.

2007 CAF Champions League Final
Cairo International Stadium hosted the podium where Étoile du Sahel lifted the trophy
Event2007 CAF Champions League
Étoile du Sahel Al-Ahly
Tunisia Egypt
3 1
First leg
Étoile du Sahel Al-Ahly
0 0
Date27 October 2007
VenueStade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse
RefereeRaphaël Evehe Divine (Cameroon)
Attendance25,000
Second Leg
Al-Ahly Étoile du Sahel
1 3
Date9 November 2007
VenueCairo International Stadium, Cairo
RefereeAbderrahim El Arjoun (Morocco)
Attendance74,000
← 2006
2008 →

The final was played between Étoile du Sahel from Tunisia and Al-Ahly from Egypt. After a goal-less first leg, EsS Sahel won the second leg 3–1 in Cairo to win their first African title . As a result, ES Sahel qualified to enter the quarterfinals of the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup as the CAF representative, as well as participate in the 2008 CAF Super Cup against the winner of the 2007 CAF Confederation Cup.

Qualified teams

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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)
  Étoile du Sahel UNAF (North Africa) 2004, 2005
  Al Ahly UNAF (North Africa) 1982, 1983, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006

Background

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Both teams had met in the same round in 2005 when the Egyptian team won (3-0) in Cairo. Al-Ahly were the defending champions, and also the most successful club in the African Champions Cup/CAF Champions League with Zamalek, reaching a total of six finals, winning five (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006) and losing one (1983). Étoile du Sahel reached the final twice but they lost against Enyimba in 2004 and against Al Ahly in 2005. Both teams qualified as winners of their groups.

Both teams qualified for the semifinals on the second-last matchday. In the semifinals Étoile du Sahel defeated the Sudanese side Al Hilal 3–2 on aggregate, losing the first leg in Omdurman (1-2), with the second leg ending in a win (3-1). Al Ahly faced Al Iittihad from Libya and draw the first leg (0-0) away from home. In need of a win in the second leg, Al Ahly were victorious 1–0 and reached the final to face Étoile du Sahel again after 2 years.

Venues

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Stade Olympique de Sousse

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Stade Olympique in Sousse, Tunisia hosted the first leg.

Stade olympique de Sousse is a multi-purpose stadium in Sousse, Tunisia. It is used by the football team Étoile du Sahel, and was used for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. The stadium holds 28,000 people. It hosts within it the meetings played by the football team of the city: Étoile sportive du Sahel (ESS).

For many decades, Sousse footballers knew only the clay surfaces and knew the turf surfaces only when the stadium was inaugurated with an initial capacity of 10,000 places. It passes over the years to 15,000 seats and is then expanded again on the occasion of the 1994 African Cup of Nations with 6,000 additional seats to reach a capacity of 21,000 seats; A luminous panel is installed at the same time. The last expansion was carried out in 1999 to bring the capacity of the stadium to 28,000 seats for the 2001 Mediterranean Games, a reorganization of the gallery of honor was carried out, from a capacity of 70 to 217 places.

It hosted 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1994 African Cup of Nations, 2001 Mediterranean Games and 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Cairo International Stadium

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International Stadium in Cairo, Egypt hosted the second 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.

The Stadium is located about 10 km west of Cairo International Airport and about 10 km[2] (30 min) from downtown Cairo.

In 2005, in preparation for the 2006 African Cup of Nations it underwent a major renovation, and was brought up to 21st century world standard along with all its multi-game Olympic facilities which did not enable the same two teams to play the 2005 final on this stadium.

Road to final

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Further information: 2007 CAF Champions League
  Étoile du Sahel Round   Al-Ahly
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying rounds Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
  Fello Star 5–1 1–0 (A) 4–1 (H) First round   Highlanders 2–0 0–0 (A) 2–0 (H)
  Maranatha 3–0 0–0 (A) 3–0 (H) Second round   Mamelodi Sundowns 4–2 2–2 (A) 2–0 (H)
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
  FAR Rabat 1–0 (A) Matchday 1   Al-Hilal 2–0 (H)
  Al-Ittihad 0–0 (H) Matchday 2   ASEC Mimosas 1–0 (A)
  JS Kabylie 3–0 (H) Matchday 3   Espérance de Tunis 3–0 (H)
  JS Kabylie 2–0 (A) Matchday 4   Espérance de Tunis 0–1 (A)
  FAR Rabat 0–0 (H) Matchday 5   Al-Hilal 0–3 (A)
  Al-Ittihad 0–2 (A) Matchday 6   ASEC Mimosas 2–0 (H)

Group A Winner
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Étoile du Sahel 6 3 2 1 6 2 +4 8 Advance to knockout stage
2   Al-Ittihad 6 3 1 2 6 4 +2 7
3   JS Kabylie 6 2 1 3 6 8 −2 5
4   FAR Rabat 6 1 2 3 2 6 −4 4
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
 Final standings

Group B Winner
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Al Ahly SC 6 4 0 2 8 4 +4 8 Advance to knockout stage
2   Al-Hilal 6 3 1 2 8 5 +3 7
3   ASEC Mimosas 6 2 1 3 4 5 −1 5
4   Espérance de Tunis 6 1 2 3 2 8 −6 4
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knock-out stage Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
  Al Hilal 4–3 1–2 (A) 3–1 (H) Semifinals   Al Ittihad 1–0 0–0 (A) 1–0 (H)

Format

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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).[3]

Matches

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First leg

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Étoile du Sahel  0–0  Al-Ahly
Report
Attendance: 25,000
 
 
 
 
 
 
ES Sahel
 
 
 
 
 
Al Ahly
ES Sahel:
GK 1   Aymen Mathlouthi
DF 13   Saber Ben Frej   30'
DF 4   Radhouene Felhi
DF 6   Saïf Ghezal   72'
DF 10   Mehdi Meriah   79'
MF 19   Mohamed Ali Nafkha
MF 24   Moussa Narry
MF 25   Mouritala Ogunbiyi   84'
MF 5   Mejdi Traoui     66'
MF 14   Gilson Silva
FW 21   Amine Chermiti   24'
Substitutes:
FW 16   Sadat Bukari   66'
DF 4   Hatem Bejaoui   84'
Manager:
  Bertrand Marchand
Al Ahly:
GK 1   Essam El Hadary
DF 4   Emad El-Nahhas
DF 26   Wael Gomaa
DF 7   Shady Mohamed
DF 2   Islam El-Shater   90'
DF 25   Hossam Ashour
MF 17   Anis Boujelbene
MF 5   Ahmad El-Sayed   12'
MF 8   Mohamed Barakat   18'
MF 22   Mohamed Aboutrika   87'
FW 23   Flávio   82'   84'
Substitutes:
MF 9   Emad Meteb   84'
FW 6   Ahmed Sedik   87'
MF 18   Osama Hosny   90'
Manager:
  Manuel José

Assistant referees:
Efarist Mikwande (Cameroon)
Zogo Ndang (Cameroon)
Fourth official:
Fathi Amina (Tunisia)

Second leg

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Al Ahly  1–3  Étoile du Sahel
El-Nahhas   48' Report Gharbi   44'
Chermiti   90+3'
Narry   90+5'
Attendance: 74,000
 
 
 
 
 
 
Al Ahly
 
 
 
 
 
 
ES Sahel
Al Ahly:
GK 1   Essam El Hadary
DF 4   Emad El-Nahhas   61'
DF 7   Shady Mohamed
MF 5   Ahmad El-Sayed
DF 2   Islam El-Shater   46'
DF 12   Gilberto   75'
DF 25   Hossam Ashour
MF 17   Anis Boujelbene   66'
MF 22   Mohamed Aboutrika
MF 9   Emad Meteb
FW 23   Flávio
Substitutes:
MF 9   Hassan Mostafa   46'
FW 6   Mohamed Sedik   66'
MF 18   Ahmed Qenawi   75'
Manager:
  Manuel José
ES Sahel:
GK 1   Aymen Mathlouthi  
DF 13   Saber Ben Frej  
DF 4   Radhouene Felhi  
DF 5   Ammar Jemal
DF 6   Hatem Bejaoui
MF 24   Moussa Narry
DF 19   Mohamed Ali Nafkha
MF 25   Mouritala Ogunbiyi   84'
MF 10   Afouène Gharbi   66'
MF 7   Gilson Silva   87'
FW 27   Amine Chermiti
Substitutes:
FW 18   Mejdi Traoui     66'
MF 26   Bassem Ben Nasser   84'
MF 15   Mahmoud Khemiri   87'
Manager:
  Bertrand Marchand

Assistant referees:
Ayoub Mohamed (Morocco)
Radhouan Achik (Morocco)
Fourth official:
Walid Ibrahim (Egypt)

Notes and references

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  1. ^ "International Cairo Stadium". www.cairo-stadium.org.eg. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
  2. ^ "Distance & Directions from Cairo Stadium to Downtown". Google. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  3. ^ Regulations of the CAF Champions League
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