African Champions League title stays in Egypt with Pyramids winning final
by Naharnet Newsdesk 02 June 2025, 16:08
The African Champions League soccer title stayed in Egypt with Pyramids winning the final Sunday just seven years after the club was renamed and moved to Cairo.
The president of African soccer's governing body Patrice Motsepe presented the trophy after watching the South African club he owns, Mamelodi Sundowns, lose the second leg in Cairo 2-1, giving Pyramids a 3-2 aggregate win.
Pyramids took a first-half lead with Congo forward Fiston Mayele's competition-best ninth goal. Defender Ahmed Samy added a second in the 56th minute for the team coached by Krunoslav Jurčić from Croatia.
Iqraam Rayners cut the lead in the 75th and Pyramids survived pressure during 10 minutes of stoppage time added.
Egypt now has a record 19 African club titles by four different teams. Al Ahly has 12, including the past two competitions, Zamalek has five and Ismaily one.
Pyramids was rebranded and brought to the Egyptian capital in 2018 by Saudi sports executive Turki Al-Sheikh, who is now a key official in boxing. One year later the big-spending club's new owner was Salem Al-Shamsi, a businessman from the United Arab Emirates, who had been its vice president.
Pyramids' first African title earned a place at FIFA's Club World Cup in 2029.
Sundowns, which won its only African title in 2016, qualified to play in the United States next month in the first 32-team edition of the FIFA tournament.
The South African club was drawn in a group to play Ulsan in Orlando on June 17, then Borussia Dortmund in Cincinnati and Fluminense in Miami.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Ronaldo leads Portugal to Nations League final with first win over Germany in 25 years
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 16:15 Cristiano Ronaldo has led Portugal to its first win over Germany in 25 years. The 40-year-old Ronaldo captained the team and scored his 137th international goal as Portugal came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 in Munich in their Nations League semifinal on Wednesday. It was Portugal's first win in Germany since a World Cup qualifier in Stuttgart in October 1985 — some six months after a future superstar was born in Madeira. On his record-extending 220th appearance, Ronaldo became the oldest player to ever score against Germany while ending his "curse." The former Real Madrid star lost each of the previous five games he'd played against Germany. Portugal hadn't beaten Germany since Sérgio Conceição scored a hat trick for a 3-0 victory at Euro 2000. On Wednesday, Conceição's son — 22-year-old Francisco Conceição — pulled Portugal level just five minutes after making his entrance with a brilliant long-range strike inside the far post after he surged past Robin Gosens like he wasn't there. Liverpool target Florian Wirtz had given Germany a 48th-minute lead with a perfectly placed header inside the right post, but Portugal coach Roberto Martínez made his changes count as he brought on Conceição and Champions League winner Vitinha among the substitutes. Vitinha excelled as Portugal finished the game in the ascendancy just four days after he helped Paris Saint-Germain win the Champions League final against Inter Milan in the same stadium on Saturday. Germany needed goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen at his best to prevent the visitors from scoring any more. "When we're not at 100% then we can't compete with the top teams," said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was missing Jamal Musiala among others. PSG wing backs João Neves and Nuno Mendes both started for Portugal, while Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade started for his Germany debut and had the home team's best first-half chance saved by Diogo Costa. Conceição made his mark in the 63rd. Mendes gave Ronaldo a simple finish five minutes after that. "It could have been more," Mendes said. France plays Spain in Stuttgart on Thursday in the other semifinal, with Germany awaiting the loser to decide third place.
Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Moise Kean adds to Italy's woes as he withdraws from World Cup qualifiers with injury
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 16:19 Italy was hit by a new injury blow when forward Moise Kean withdrew from the squad on Thursday for World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Moldova. Italy defenders Alessandro Buongiorno and Mattia Gabbia had already left the training camp with injuries this week. The latter was replaced by Daniele Rugani. Kean returned to Fiorentina "due to a muscle problem he picked up in yesterday's session," according to a brief statement on X. Italy was also already without Francesco Acerbi, who turned down his callup to the national team. The 25-year-old Kean is coming off the best season of his career with 25 goals across all competitions for Fiorentina since joining from Juventus last July. His tally of 19 goals in Serie A was bettered only by Italy teammate Mateo Retegui for Atalanta. Kean has scored seven times in 21 matches for Italy, including two against Germany in March as the Azzurri fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3. Italy faces Erling Haaland and Norway on Friday then Moldova four days later. It's Italy's first qualifiers for 2026 and the Azzurri are already trailing group leader Norway, which has a full six points and a plus-seven goal differential after beating Moldova 5-0 and Israel 4-2.
Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Gauff faces Frenchwoman ranked 361st in semifinals, Djokovic, Sinner win
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 16:18 That No. 2 seed Coco Gauff reached Thursday's French Open semifinals should surprise no one. Her 361st-ranked opponent for a berth in the title match? That's a whole other story. Gauff made it to the final four at Roland-Garros for the third time, getting past No. 7 Madison Keys 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in a quarterfinal between two Americans who both have won a major title. Next up for 2023 U.S. Open champion Gauff? A matchup against French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson, who extended one of the most stunning runs in tennis history by beating No. 6 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (6), 6-3. "Unbelievable," Boisson said. "Incredible." Those are a couple of good words for what's been happening. A year ago, Boisson was supposed to make her Grand Slam debut in Paris, but she tore a knee ligament and couldn't compete. Now 22, Boisson is the first woman to get to the semifinals of her first major tournament since Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati did it at the 1989 French Open and is the lowest-ranked to get that far at Roland-Garros in at least 40 years. She's doing it with a game made for clay, anchored by heavy groundstrokes and buoyed by a rowdy, partisan crowd that rattled the 18-year-old Andreeva — she was warned for ball abuse for smacking one toward the upper deck after one bad volley — and was just as loud when Boisson upset No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the fourth round. "I love to play with the crowd. I love to hear my name when I won a point and everything," Boisson said. "For me, it's just something plus. It's not pressure. But I think it's also really difficult for (a) player from (another) country." Over and over again, the chair umpire tried to tell the 15,000 or so spectators to be quiet as their thunderous applause and shouts of Boisson's first name reverberated off the inside of the closed roof at Court Philippe-Chatrier. They didn't heed those requests. They jeered and whistled when Andreeva complained about noise between her first and second serves or argued line calls. "It's normal that they would support a French player, so I knew that it's going to be like this. I think that in the first set, I managed it pretty well (and) I didn't really pay attention to that," Andreeva said. "But obviously with nerves and with pressure, it became a little harder." When the match ended, Boisson collapsed to her back, chest heaving and hands on her face. When she rose, there were flecks of rust-colored clay all over, including her forehead. No matter what happens the rest of the way, Boisson certainly has left her mark on the 2025 French Open. "I think every kid who plays tennis has the dream to win a Slam. More for a French player to win Roland Garros, for sure," she said. "So, yeah, it's a dream. For sure, I will go for the dream — because my dream is to win it, not to be in the semifinal." What else happened at the French Open on Wednesday? Novak Djokovic and No. 1 Jannik Sinner set up a semifinal showdown with victories. Djokovic reached his record 51st Grand Slam semifinal as he pursues his 25th major championship with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 3 Alexander Zverev, last year's runner-up. And Sinner got back to the semifinals in Paris for the second year in a row with his latest overpowering performance, defeating unseeded Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 in under two hours. Sinner has dropped just 36 games through five matches. Who plays at Roland-Garros on Thursday? The two women's semifinals are the only singles matches on the Day 12 schedule, with three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek facing No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in just their second matchup at a Grand Slam tournament, and Gauff meeting Boisson. The men's semifinals are Friday, including defending champion Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti.
