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R/£ Delight for 'Potato Boys'
April 25, 2007 Edition 1
Cairo - Unfashionable Mwana Africa brought rare cheer to troubled Zimbabwe by reaching the African Confederation Cup playoffs at the weekend.
The mining company club from the northern town of Bindura overwhelmed Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso 3-0 in Harare to book a May showdown with Tout Puissant Mazembe Englebert of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was another unexpected success for the 'Potato Boys', playing in Africa for the first time, after a two-goal first-leg loss in Ouagadougou.
After brushing aside Mundu of Zanzibar in the first qualifying round, Mwana upset InterClube of Angola to raise the spirits of a nation more accustomed to failure than success at international level.
Setting aside their woes in a country beset by hyper inflation, mass unemployment and political turmoil, a 5 000 Rufaro Stadium crowd saw a four-striker gamble by Mwana coach Willard Khumalo pay speedy dividends.
Chipo Tsodzo scored with a diving header and the teams were tied on aggregate just before half-time when a seemingly harmless Alisara Kondowe drive caught goalkeeper Souleymane Bonao napping.
Etoile launched a series of second half raids before Webster Muronda's headed goal 14 minutes from full-time sealed the win.
Mwana revelled on the lush, flat Rufaro surface, which is a far cry from their bumpy home pitch 100km north of Harare known as the 'potato field'.
At the other end of the continent, Al-Merreikh of Sudan were equally impressive as they outclassed ASO Chlef of Algeria 3-0 to comfortably reverse a one-goal first-leg loss.
Nigerian Aydema Idahor ended the Omdurman stalemate after 31 minutes, Hiatham Tambal added a second goal before half-time and Faisal Ajab put the outcome beyond doubt with a late strike.
Perennial international campaigners Merreikh are guided by veteran German coach Otto Pfister, the man in charge of ill-fated debutants Togo at the 2006 World Cup in his homeland.
Another high-profile coach, Frenchman Patrice Neveu, had a more anxious time before Ismailia of Egypt held Zambian army club Green Buffaloes 1-1 in Lusaka to squeeze through on aggregate by the odd goal in five.
There was a late scare for African newcomers Gaouafel Gafsa of Tunisia before they drew 1-1 with Rwandan visitors ATRACO to advance on away goals and book a showdown against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
Another Tunisian team, Club Sportif Sfaxien, left it late against Issia Wazi of Ivory Coast with Blaise Kouassi scoring two minutes into stoppage time against his compatriots to clinch the 2-0 victory. Surprise packets Benfica Luanda of Angola coasted into the playoffs after an early Manuel Gaspar goal helped them hold Astres Douala in Cameroon and progress 4-1 on aggregate. - Sapa-AFP
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