Zamalek’s fifth glory of 2002
For Cairo giants Zamalek, they tasted glory in CAF competitions 11 times. Five of which being in the most prestigious CAF Champions League, a record only bettered by their archrivals Al Ahly.
Zamalek’s first Champions League title dates to 1984 in the African Cup of Champion Clubs as named by then. The White Knights emerged victorious also in 1986, 1993, 1996 and 2002.
Their 2002 glory started against Rwanda’s APR in the first round, with Zamalek sending an early threat to the continent as they won the first leg in Cairo 6-0. A barren stalemate in Kigali meant Zamalek reached the next round in style.
Their round of 16 opponents were Zambia’s Nkana. A 2-0 win in Cairo followed by a 1-1 draw in Kitwe meant Zamalek reached the group stages with 3-1 aggregate victory.
The White Knights were drawn in Group B besides Cote d’Ivoire’s ASEC Mimosas, Tunisian giants Esperance and Mozambique’s Costa do Sol. They started the mini league campaign with a home 3-1 win over ASEC in Cairo, before holding Esperance to a 1-1 draw at Tunis. Zamalek succumbed to a shocking 2-0 defeat against Costa do Sol in Maputo but managed a 3-0 victory in Cairo. An away 1-0 loss against ASEC in Abidjan meant The White Knights needed a win against Esperance in Cairo to reach the semifinals, which they did thanks to 1-0 home win to finish the group as winners.
In the semis, Zamalek had to face DR Congo’s TP Mazembe. An away 1-1 draw in Lubumbashi saw Zamalek as favorites to reach the final; a tag they confirmed by winning the second leg in Cairo 2-0, courtesy to a brace from the legendary Hossam Hassan.
Their opponents in the final were none but Morocco’s giants Raja. After holding them to an away barren stalemate in Casablanca, Tamer Abdel Hamid scored at the brink of halftime what proved to be the game’s lone goal to hand Zamalek their fifth CAF Champions League glory.
The White Knights added three more CAF trophies since they last touched the Holy Grail of African club football. They won the CAF super Cup twice (in 2003 and most recently in 2020), beside the second tier CAF Confederation Cup in 2018-19.
With their 2019-20 Total CAF Champions League semifinal rivals being none but Raja, the ones who were their final opponents when they last won the title, Zamalek are hoping this could be a good omen to conquer the continent once again, eighteen years since last doing so.