Egypt’s Zamalek clinched the 2024 TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup in a dramatic penalty shootout over arch-rivals Ahly following a 1-1 draw at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last Friday.

The White Knights held their nerve in a tense shootout, ultimately winning 4-3 to lift their fifth Super Cup title. 

The game between the two Egyptian giants, between Ahly the African Champions League winners, and Zamalek, champions of the African Confederation Cup, began with Ahly looking the more dominant side, and they in fact took the lead in the 44th minute through their Palestinian striker Wessam Abou Ali. 

The forward calmly converted a penalty, sending the ball down the centre of the goal after a 10-minute VAR review confirmed a foul on Akram Tawfik by Zamalek’s Hamza Mathlouthi.

The penalty dispute was so contentious that for a moment it looked like the Zamalek players would walk out.

Despite going behind, Zamalek responded with resilience. The second half saw them steadily grow into the game, and their persistence paid off in the 77th minute.

Substitute Nasser Mansi who had been on the field for just one minute, capitalised on a well-delivered cross from Omar Gaber, leveling the score with a composed finish from close range.

The remaining minutes of regular time were a flurry of action and near-misses, with both teams pushing for a winner.

Ahly came close in the dying moments, but Rami Rabia’s header sailed over the bar, ensuring the match would be decided by penalties.

In the shootout, Ahly’s Yahia Attiyat Allah missed a crucial penalty, and Abou Ali’s shot hit the post in the final shot, handing the title to Zamalek.

Zamalek converted four of their five attempts, with defender Hossam Abdel-Maguid sealing the victory by calmly slotting his shot into the bottom left corner.

The win saw Zamalek repeating their triumph over Ahly in the CAF Super Cup after exactly 30 years, having clinched the 1994 edition.

Ahly now have lost the CAF Super Cup for the second consecutive year, keeping their total at a record eight titles.

Zamalek’s win of such a prestigious cup was extra special coming amid a lack of instability in the administration and a financial crisis that impacted new and old players. Hats off to the board which has been struggling since making it into office, inheriting a huge deficit in finances. But at least for one day they managed to meet the challenges and overcome the crises. It tastes sweeter when success comes from dire conditions.

Both teams are now ready for the next phase, following huge celebrations for the Zamalek club and their supporters and tidying the house for Ahly following the loss.

Next for both giants is the two prestigious African competitions, the CAF Champions League where Ahly will be defending their title and the CAF Confederation Cup for Zamalek, also the present champions.

Both have made it to the group stage of their respective tournaments. 

The 2024/25 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup group stage draw is scheduled to be conducted on Monday 7 October at the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) headquarters in 6th October City in Cairo.

The TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup draw will start at 1pm Cairo time followed by the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League at 2pm local time. The full list of the qualified teams was confirmed on Sunday night 22 September.

Despite Zamalek’s snatching the CAF Super Cup, Ahly still hold the record of eight CAF Super Cups, followed by Zamalek (5), Mazembe (3), Etoile de Sahel (2), Rajaa Casablanca (2), Enyimba (2) and one edition each for Esperance, Wydad, Burkane, Africa Sports, Hearts of Oak, Orlando Pirates, Asec Memosa, Fas, Wefak Steif, Sundowns and Ittihad Asema.

While Ahly and Zamalek are moving on, supporters of each side continue to go viral on both traditional and social media talking about the game. It goes without saying that Zamalek and their supporters are celebrating and singing the praises of their team. The club members and fans look like they are going on a long journey of festivities with no end in sight. On the other hand, runner ups Ahly are angry and hurt, as if they were hijacked. Some are still in denial and can’t move on. 

Some Ahly club members and supporters believe the club lost because of failures in the football administration since the sacking former football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, dubbed the best football director not only in Ahly but in the country. He was replaced last year by former footballer Khaled Bibo. Club supporters have been calling for some time for the return of Abdel-Hafiz. Rumor has it that he was called but he denied he received an offer.

On Monday, Ahly’s Football Planning Committee headed by President of Ahly Club Mahmoud Al-Khatib held a meeting to discuss the repercussions of the loss, taking the first concrete decision since the fallout: unanimously appointing former football star and member of the Planning Committee Mohamed Ramadan, 54, as the Team Sport Director.

The players are expected to receive a huge fine each, the amount yet to be confirmed,  “for underestimating their opponents, not taking the game seriously, and losing the title, beingconfident in their historic record.” 

So far, no other penalties have been officially imposed on the players, but there is a reported intention to do so. Some are expected to receive additional penalties including Rabia and Abdel-Wahed, based on the Ahly administration report from Sami Komsan, the head coach and now temporarily taking over the position of football director.

Those players made the “go to sleep” gesture during the penalty shootout, needlessly irritating Zamalek.

Ahly is also considering imposing penalties on some players who weren’t focused enough before the game and were busy attending receptions, openings, parties and appearing in the media in the days before the match without seeking permission from the football director. 

Though Zamalek club are proud of their team’s achievement, there is an inner feeling that their opponents and even some of their supporters are undermining the accomplishment, claiming Zamalek only won because Ahly were worse.

But the fact remains that Zamalek won and fully deserved it.

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* A version of this article appears in print in the 3 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly