Djibouti club Solar too hot for Zamalek in CAF Cup shock

Arta Solar from football minnows Djibouti shocked 11-time African title winners Zamalek of Egypt by winning a CAF Confederation Cup last-32 first-leg qualifier 2-0 on Saturday.

The club from the tiny east African nation are more used to hidings from Egyptian opponents – they were trounced 9-1 by Al Mokawloon in the same competition three seasons ago.

But after playing second fiddle to the Cairo outfit in the first half, Ghana-born Gabriel Dadzie broke the deadlock on 55 minutes and Doualeh Elabeh doubled the lead soon after.

Making the triumph even more remarkable was the fact that Arta had to host the match in the Tanzanian commercial capital Dar es Salaam because they lack an international-standard venue.

Arta have invested heavily in foreign players to try and make an impact in Africa and the squad that faced Zamalek included former Ivory Coast forward Salomon Kalou, now 38.

He was part of the Chelsea starting line-up in the 2012 Champions League final, won by the London club after a penalty shootout against Bayern Munich.

Zamalek, who lacked key players Ahmed 'Zizo' Sayed and Ahmed Fatouh, will get a chance to avenge the shock defeat when they host the return match on October 1 with a group place up for grabs.

The 11 CAF titles won by the Egyptian club include five in Champions League, four in the Super Cup,and one each in the Confederation Cup and now defunct African Cup Winners Cup.

That total puts them joint second with TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only another Egyptian club, Al Ahly, have succeeded more often with 24 titles.

Elsewhere, Moroccan side Renaissance Berkane, winners of the 2020 and 2022 Confederation Cup finals, came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Bendel Insurance of Nigeria in Benin City.

When a Vincent Augustus goal gave Bendel the lead for a second time on the hour, they retained the advantage for 18 minutes before Mohamed Morabt levelled.

Liberian Sheikh Sesay netted eight minutes into added time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Gaborone United of Botswana at home to SuperSport United of South Africa.