Tunisian side, CS Sfaxien has won the 2013
Orange CAF Confederation Cup title despite a 2-1 loss to TP Mazembe of
DR Congo on Saturday in Lubumbashi.
Sfaxien annexed the title 3-2 on aggregate thanks to a 2-0 win from
the final first leg last week in Rades. The Tunisian outfit this
confirmed their status as the most successful in the second-tier
continental club championship after successes in 2007 and 2008.
Mazembe led by two goals at half time with strikes from Cheibane
Traore and Mbwana Samatta before pacy winger Fakheridine Ben Youssef
scored in the dying embers to take game beyond the hosts.
The Congolese got off to a perfect start but paid the price for their failure to bury the several chances that came their way.
It took just 10 minutes to break the deadlock as Traore tapped in a
rebound after Sfaxien goalie Rami Jeridi had spilled Given Singuluma's
shot unto his path.
Mazembe coach, Patrice Carteron handed starting roles to Ghanaian
duo, Yaw Frimpong and Solomon Asante and they made their presence felt
with surging runs upfront. Asante in particular remained a constant
threat to the Sfaxien backline, and was often fouled by his markers.
On 20 minutes, captain Tresor Mputu set up Traore to double the lead but the Malian blasted wide from close range.
Three minutes later, Samatta scored the second goal from a three-man
move with Asante and Mputu as the actors. Mputu fetched Asante, who
lobbed for the Tanzanian to blast past Jeridi to set the stadium into
ecstasy.
At that point, Mazembe needed a third to kill it and they pressed
their opponents further. Sfaxien resorted to long balls relying on the
pace of Fakheridine, who was a danger to the Mazambe defence anytime he
moved upfront. Their first attempt at goal was on 25 minutes but
Fakheridine headed wide from Didier Lebri's cross.
Two minutes before half time, Jeridi was to his side's rescue with a
pointblank save from a Traore shot after Mputu had put him through.
Mazembe resumed strongly with Asante tormenting the Sfaxien defence,
but lacked the cutting edge upfront. On 55 minutes, Asante weaved his
way past his marker and squared Mputu, but the latter volleyed wide.
Carteron then varied his tactics with Rainford Kalaba and Boubacar
Diarra replacing Siguluma and Samatta.
On 72 minutes, the homers were dealt a major
after Asante pulled out after an injury and his replacement Thomas
Ulimwengu, announced his presence with a thunderbolt that was spilled
out by Jeridi minutes later.
Sfaxien also had their turn with Gabon-import Didier Ibrahim Ndong and Ferdjani Sassi fouling the attacks of the Congolese.
Ten minutes from time, Mazembe kept the visitors defence boiling but
Sfaxien survived after Maman Issoufou headed out an Mputu header from a
goalmouth action.
Sfaxien returned it in style and in the 88th minute, Fakhreddine
stunned the home crowd with a header that beat goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba
for the first and only time in the game. A throw-in effected by
Issoufou was flicked by Ferdjani to Fakhreddine, who headed in to make
matters worse for Mazembe.
The goal meant Mazembe had to score two more goals to turn the tide
their favour but the Tunisians defended gallantly and cruised to
victory.
Sfaxien are 660,000 US Dollars richer by the feat and will face Al-Ahly of Egypt in next year's Orange CAF Super Cup.
