Ghana’s Dreams FC saw their remarkable journey in the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup brought to a shuddering halt by the pitiless Zamalek.
The Egyptian giants secured their place in the final with an emphatic performance against the Ghanaians after a goalless first leg in Cairo. Hamza Mathlouthi’s early goal set them on their way to a 3-0 victory in Kumasi.
Samson Akinyoola’s lovely volley and a late Mustafa Shalaby figure out fixed the agreement for Zamalek as mainland heavyweights.
For Dreams, a debut slant at African club football’s second-level rivalry closes with their heads held high, regardless of whether this lowering loss will sting for quite a while to come.
Having proactively unloaded out Mali heavyweights Stade Malien in transit to the last four, Dreams FC were hopeful they could make one more amazing upset in their home grounds.
However, those hopes were quickly dashed when Mathlouthi scored with a back-post header, continuing his scoring obsession, to silence the Kumasi crowd.
The Tunisian defender, who had scored in Zamalek’s quarterfinal victory over Modern Future in the first leg, scored again 12 minutes later to give the White Knights complete control of the match.
Akinyoola’s mysterious left-footed strike soon after the halfway mark of the first half then left Dreams expecting to score multiple times to keep their fantasy alive.
Dreams’ experienced striker John Antwi and youthful Abdul Aziz Issah cushioned great scoring valuable chances to bring Dreams FC back into the game before Zamalek goalkeeper Mohamed Awad pulled two recoveries to deny the home side.
The extraordinary Omar Gaber and the vigorous Hossam Abdelmaguid went near increasing Zamalek’s chances before the break as Zamalek turned the screw with their brand name blend of force and cunning.
Any expectations Dreams held onto of a supernatural rebound were really stifled not long before the hour mark, when Shalaby broke his half year scoring dry season in clinical style.
Dreams FC Display Resilience And Skill Against Zamalek By Securing A Draw
The winger had not hit the net since October but rather kept his levelheadedness in the wake of being sneaked in to penetrate past the powerless Solomon Agbasi and complete the scoring.
For a significant part of the second half, it was an instance of attack versus defense as Zamalek took steps to go crazy while Dreams frantically tried to reestablish a decency to the scoreline.
Their historic continental run was abruptly ended by a Zamalek team that was painfully clinical on the counter, allowing the Egyptian heavyweights to advance to a second continental final.
