CAF Super Cup facts:
- Al Ahly have won a record six Super Cup matches in seven appearances while Tunisians CS Sfaxien qualified three times and lost them all.
- Twenty-two previous Caf Super Cup matches have produced 51 goals at an average of 2.3 per game.
- Seven games went to penalties with the 9-8 victory of Congolese side TP Mazembe over Moroccans FUS Rabat in 2011 the longest shootout.
- Esperance trounced Congolese side DC Motema Pembe 3-0 in 1995 and Ahly overwhelmed South Africans Kaizer Chiefs 4-1 seven years later for the biggest winning margins.
Caf Super Cup winners
1993: Africa Sports (CIV) – 1994: Zamalek (EGY) – 1995: Esperance (TUN) – 1996: Orlando Pirates (RSA) – 1997: Zamalek (EGY) – 1998: Etoile Sahel (TUN) - 1999: ASEC Mimosas (CIV) – 2000: Raja Casablanca (MAR) – 2001: Hearts of Oak (GHA) – 2002: Al Ahly (EGY) – 2003: Zamalek (EGY) – 2004: Enyimba (NGR) - 2005: Enyimba (NGR) – 2006: Al Ahly (EGY) – 2007: Al Ahly (EGY) – 2008: Etoile Sahel (TUN) – 2009: Al Ahly (EGY) – 2010: TP Mazembe (COD) – 2011: TP Mazembe (COD) – 2012: Maghreb Fes (MAR) – 2013: Al Ahly (EGY) – 2014: Al-Ahly (EGY)
Al Ahly & ES Setif meet for the 3rd time
The Orange CAF Super Cup between Algerian side, ES Setif and Al Ahly on Saturday, 21 February 2015 at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida will be the third ever meeting between the two sides.
The two previous meetings were in the semis of the CAF Champions League, at the time the competition was referred to as the African Cup of Champion Clubs. On 23 October 1988, at the 8 May 1945 Stadium in Setif, ES Setif won 2-0. In the Setif squad were renowned players such as Adjissa, Rahmani, Zorgane, Gherib, Osmani, Serrar, Bernaoui amongst others. Rahmani opening the scores after a quarter-hour of play before Gherib cemented the win with the second on 78 minutes.
In the return leg at a packed 80,000-capacity Cairo International Stadium on 6 November 1988, Ahly went on to win 2-0 with goals from Osama Al Arabi and Rabie Yassin. However, ES Setif won 4-2 on penalties before going on to beat Nigerian side, Iwuanyanwu Nationale 4-1 on aggregate in the final for the first ever continental title.
The feat will come at a cost to ES Setif as they were relegated to the second-tier of Algerian football at the end of 1987-88 season, but staged a return to the top flight for the 1988-89 season.
Hani Aboreda | interview from Algeria
Winning the African Super Cup has been mainly a formality for Ahly but the Cairo giants will wear a rare underdog tag when they seek to secure a record-extending title away to Algeria’s ES Setif on Saturday.
“I am just thinking about the Super Cup. We must overcome the tragedy and come back to the normal life with more strength,” said Ahly’s Spanish coach Juan Garrido, who is eyeing his third trophy at the helm after leading the club to the Egyptian Super Cup and African Confederation Cup titles.
It’s the first time in almost two decades that Ahly play the game as the winners of a secondary competition rather than the prestigious Champions League, which they had won a record eight times.
The Red Devils became the first Egyptian side to win the Confederation Cup last December when they beat Ivory Coast’s Sewe Sport over two legs following a last-gasp winner from striker Emad Meteb.
CBC 2 review Al Ahly matches with Algeria’s ES Setif
Ahly won two successive Champions League accolades in 2012 and 2013 but suffered an early exit at last year’s edition, with Setif going on to win the competition at the expense of Congo’s Vita Club.
“The players are determined to bring the trophy back to Cairo. We are confident that our experience can be a crucial factor,” said Garrido’s assistant Ali Maher.
Ahly’s proud record includes six African Super Cup triumphs and a solitary loss in seven attempts, which came against arch-rivals Zamalek in 1994 in Johannesburg.
The last time Ahly played the Super Cup away from home was in 2007 when they beat Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel in Addis Ababa on penalties following a 0-0 draw as African governing body CAF celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In other news:
22,000 tickets on sale for CAF Super Cup
18,000 tickets for the city of Setif
Of the 22,000 tickets printed, 18,000 were put on sale on Thursday in Setif, the base of CAF Champions League holders, ES Setif, specifically at the Stade 8 Mai 1945, the home grounds of the Black Eagles.
4000 tickets for Blida
The organizers have planned to make available 4,000 tickets for fans in the capital, Algiers and Blida, the city hosting the CAF Super Cup. The tickets will be available on the eve of the match, Friday (20 February 2015) at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida.
Meanwhile, according to the organizers, the stadium will be opened five hours before kick-off for fans, thus 11H00.
Also, a 2000-seat stand has been reserved for the visiting team, Ahly.
