Tanzanian giants Simba bid Africa Football League farewell depite holding Ahly in Cairo

Former Tanzanian champions Simba have crashed out of the inaugural Africa Football League tournament despite holding Egyptian giants Al Ahly to a 1-1 draw in a return leg game held at the Cairo Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Simba arrived in Egypt looking to defy the odds and beat the record African champions or force them to a more than three-goal draw so as to book a place in the semis.

Simba had held Ahly to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the tournament held last week at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, and retired whistler Pierluigi Collina are among the high-profile dignitaries who attended the first leg in Dar.

With the away goal rule in play, Simba knew that they had an uphill task to overturn everything in their favour in Cairo, a traditionally difficult hunting ground for visiting teams.

Although Simba knew a win was the surest way of punching a ticket to the semis, coach Roberto Oliveira didn’t throw caution to the wind as he started with two defensive midfielders so as to effectively annihilate the threat by the home side.

Bundesliga's top scorer can be snatched by pretty much everyone

Sadio Kanoute and Fabrice Ngoma worked overtime to effortlessly insulate the defence and balance the duel that would have otherwise been dominated by Ahly.

After a goalless first half, Simba’s dream of roaring all the way to the last four received a shot in the arm in the 68th minute when Kanoute inadvertently deflected the ball into the net to the advantage of his side.

A headed effort by Jean Baleke hit the Malian midfielder’s face, catching Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy who was on his toes ready to dive and save the initial attempt flat-footed.

It is after taking the lead that Simba changed tact and introduced center-back Kennedy Juma in a bid to hold on to the slim advantage.

POKOU: The official AFCON 2023 match ball unveiled

That was never to be as Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Soliman popularly known as Kahraba found the back of the net in the 76th minute, tapping a lovely cutback from veteran left-back Ali Maaloul to level matters for Ahly.

Ahly will face the winner between South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Petro Atletico of Luanda in the semis.

Sundowns won the first leg 2-0 in Angola and will look to finish the business tonight.