Jemal goal wins CAF Cup for Etoile Sahel
Ammar Jemal scored in the first half to give hosts Etoile Sahel of Tunisia a 1-0 victory over Orlando Pirates of South Africa on Sunday to lift the CAF Confederation Cup.
Etoile triumphed 2-1 on aggregate in the final of the second-tier African club competition following a 1-1 first-leg draw in Soweto last Saturday.
Jemal, 28, a centre-back who has played in Switzerland, Germany, France and Saudi Arabia, also scored in South Africa, both from set-pieces.
His second-leg goal at Stade Olympique in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse was not pretty, but the most important of his nine-year senior career as it gave Etoile a ninth CAF title.
A short corner was followed by a cross that Pirates captain Happy Jele miscued and goalkeeper Felipe Ovono failed to grasp, leaving Jemal to bundle the ball over the line.
It was a goal in keeping with a scrappy match, spoilt by a strong wind blowing down the pitch that favoured the hosts in the first half and the visitors after the break.
Jemal claimed five goals during the 16-match Confederation Cup campaign, making him the second highest scorer for the Red Devils after six-goal Baghdad Bounedjah.
Pirates' best chances in a scrappy climax to the CAF club season fell to winger Thabo Rakhale, a star for the Buccaneers in earlier rounds.
A Thamsanqa Gabuza pass set him up for a strike at goal after 18 minutes, but he pulled a weak shot wide with only goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi to beat.
Rakhale found himself one-on-one with Mathlouthi again in the second half only to hesitate, believing he was offside, and the Tunisian cleared the ball.
