JOHANNESBURG: Etoile Sahel of Tunisia became the first club to qualify for the African Champions League semi-finals as they seek the only continental trophy to elude them.
Even stone-throwing supporters of hosts Jeunesse Sportive Kabylie of Algeria, who delayed play for 10 minutes, could not prevent the Tunisian team winning 2-0 which assured them of finishing first or second in Group A.
Etoile, from the Mediterranean resort of Sousse, have lifted the African Confederation Cup, African Super Cup, African Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup trophies since emerging as an international force 12 years ago.
The club, coached by 54-year-old Frenchman Bertrand Marchand, looked capable of reaching a third Champions League final within four years after losing to Enyimba of Nigeria in 2004 and Al-Ahly one year later.
They have won six of eight qualifying and group matches, and drawn the others while scoring 14 goals and conceding just one with the sole setback a 0-0 home draw against Group A surprise packets Al-Ittihad of Libya.
Etoile completed a double over twice champions Kabylie thanks to goals from Muri Ogunbiyi in first-half stoppage time and Amine Chermiti in the last minute of a match marred by the mid-second-half delay.
It was a typical workmanlike Etoile performance as they soaked up all the pressure Kabylie could exert in the northeast town of Tizi Ouzou, before striking on the break.
Algerian goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi fired a late penalty wide, but he should not have been on the pitch having head-butted Chermiti after a second-half goalmouth collision.
Assuming Etoile win at home to bottom-of-the-table FAR Rabat of Morocco in mid-August, Ittihad can clinch the other semi-finals slot by avoiding defeat away to Kabylie.
A superbly struck free kick by defender Younis Al-Shibani that swerved around a four-man wall and past the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Tarek al-Jarmouni set up Ittihad for a 2-0 triumph over FAR in Tripoli.
Etoile have 10 points, first-time group participants Ittihad seven and Kabylie and FAR three each, meaning anyone can join the Tunisians in the penultimate phase but the Libyans are most likely to do so.
Al Ahly surrendered an unbeaten seven-match run in the competition this year when losing 1-0 away to far hungrier Esperance of Tunisia in Group B with Salama Kasdaoui volleying the late first-half winner.
Tradition suggests Al Ahly will bounce back although they would have preferred the comfort of Cairo Stadium in mid-August rather than a visit to the steamy cauldron of Omdurman to tackle Al-Hilal of Sudan.
Ultra-cautious Hilal hardly created a chance when losing 1-0 to 2006 semi-finalists Asec of Ivory Coast, whose goal was scored by Antoine N Gossan after 30 minutes in gloomy Abidjan.
Al Ahly have nine points, Hilal six and Asec and Esperance four each, setting up a tight finish with the Egyptians probable group winners while the runners-up slot could be decided by head-to-head records.
A win for Hilal over Al Ahly and they would have the edge, but any other result might keep Asec in the race for the one million dollar first prize and an invitation to the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December.
