Bucs fall at the final hurdle

AL-AHLY are the club champions of Africa for the eighth time, engineering a world-class victory against Orlando Pirates in last night's CAF Champions League final at the Arab Contractors Stadium.

AL-AHLY are the club champions of Africa for the eighth time, engineering a world-class victory against Orlando Pirates in last night's CAF Champions League final at the Arab Contractors Stadium.

But they had to u se every ounce of their experience to win 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate) .

The crowd was closer to 35 000 . Three lone Bucs fans had their own section in the main stand, sealed off by the military .

Al-Ahly's use of space was superb. They also defended like any great team would and yet Bucs' dangerous, quick runners still troubled their back four.

Sifiso Myeni and forwards Daine Klate, Tlou Segolela and Lennox Bacela matched the game's frenetic pace but could not get the ball in the net.

In the 54th minute winger Abdalla Mohamed's ball-in from the right of the area took a slight deflection into the path of Aboutrika. The veteran Egyptian legend, who retires after this match, slipped his finish past Meyiwa.

Pirates should have equalised in the 63rd when Myeni made a superb run down the middle and fed Bacela but the striker's shot skimmed the right upright.

Al-Ahly's patient waiting game, and Bucs committing numbers forward, resulted in the second goal that sealed the trophy in the 79th minute. Another low cross from Mahmoud found the Pirates defence open, and Abd El-Zaher swept in.

• Pirates have shown that South African clubs can be competitive in continental football, coach Roger de Sa said after his side's brave display.

De Sa said drawing 1-1 at home in the first leg proved costly for the Buccaneers.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed but we believe it can be achieved and the players believe that as well," the coach said.

''If we analyse the match again - and we will in the next few days - we will see that we came across the top team on the continent. And yet, had we taken our chances, it would have been different altogether."

De Sa said Al-Ahly deserved to be club champions of Africa for the eighth time.

"Al-Ahly are clinical. They get one chance, [it's a] goal, and that's the difference between the two teams, really."

His Al-Ahly counterpart, Mohamed Youssef, praised Pirates for their performance.

"Hard luck to Pirates. They are a very good team. We played them four times and I thank Roger de Sa for describing Al-Ahly as the top team," he said.