Egypt Midfielder, Ahmed Hamdy scored midway through the first half to give Zamalek a 1-0 victory over Renaissance Berkane of Morocco and a second CAF Confederation Cup title on Sunday night.
The two-leg final finished 2-2 on aggregate with Zamalek winning the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League on away goals. The first Confederation Cup won by Zamalek was also against Berkane when they defeated the Moroccan side on penalties in 2019 after another aggregate draw.
It was a historic triumph for Zamalek boss, Jose Gomes, who became the first Portuguese coach to win the Confederation Cup. Zamalek made one change to the team that started the first leg in Morocco with Senegalese, Ibrahima Ndiaye replacing Nigeria-born fellow winger, Samson Akinyoola.
Berkane were unchanged with Burkina Faso center-back, Issoufou Dayo captaining the team and Senegalese, Paul Bassene leading the attack. A sell-out crowd in the 75,000-capacity Cairo International Stadium cheered, chanted and waved large flags as Zamalek attacked relentlessly in the early stages.
It seemed a matter of time before Berkane conceded, and Zamalek took the lead on 23 minutes through Hamdy, a midfielder who joined the White Knights four months ago. An attempted clearance by Berkane was blocked and Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed pushed the ball to unmarked Hamdy, who rifled a low shot wide of goalkeeper, Hamza Hamiani into the net.
Level on aggregate but behind on away goals, Berkane attacked and Dayo almost leveled soon after with a header from a free kick. Paul Bassene had his first sight of goal on 32 minutes, but blazed over, then Yassine Labhiri was much closer to equalizing with a shot from just outside the area.
Zamalek finished the opening half strongly and Berkane had to defend desperately with defenders blocking several goal attempts after Hamiani failed to grasp a cross. The Berkane goalkeeper nearly gifted Zamalek a second goal just past the hour mark as he initially hesitated to clear the ball and came close to being dispossessed by Seifeddine Jaziri.
Berkane threatened with 14 minutes remaining when awarded a free kick close to the area, but a poor attempt by Ayoub Khairi sailed over. The Moroccans were reduced to 10 men two minutes into added time when Hamza El Moussaoui was red-carded for stamping on Zizo after fouling the winger.
