CAIRO: Zamalek booked their place in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2005 despite losing to Interclube 2-1 in Angola on Sunday.
The Cairo giants progressed with a 4-2 aggregate victory after thrashing Interclube 3-0 at home in the first leg.
Zamalek failed to go beyond the preliminaries since reaching the semis in the 2005 competition, in which they were eliminated at the hands of arch-rivals Ahly.
They did not take part in the Champions League the following season after finishing sixth in the Egyptian League table.
Last season, Zamalek were knocked out of the competition s round of 32 after failing to overcome Sudan s Hilal.
The visitors took the lead after 15 minutes when Gamal Hamza converted Shikabala s cross from the right.
Domingos Fernandes leveled the score on the hour mark when he capitalized on some sloppy defending.
He beat two challengers before shooting between Mohamed Abdel Monsef and his near post.
Fernandes added his second of the night on the hour mark to give Interclube a lifeline.
He sidestepped Zamalek right-back Ahmed Ghanem before sending a fierce shot into the roof of the net.
Abdel Monsef ensured Zamalek wouldn t endure nervous moments after blocking a penalty from Ndjom Charles in the 72nd minute.
