After a thrilling 1-0 victory over RS Berkane in the second leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup final on Sunday, Zamalek emerged victorious on aggregate as the winners of the secondary cup for African club football.

The Egyptian giants trailed 2-1 from the first leg in Morocco one week before to the rematch at Cairo International Stadium.

Encouraged by a passionate home crowd dressed in Zamalek’s trademark red and white, they mounted an inspiring comeback to win the title of continental kings for the second time.

Read Also:CAFCC: Chaabani Calls For Better Improvement Against Zamalek

Ahmed Hamdi, a striker for Zamalek, scored the game’s winning goal in the 23rd minute to tie the score on aggregate.

But soon before halftime, Hamdi was taken off hurt after landing awkwardly, which dampened the home team’s happiness.

The second half saw the White Knights play a fierce rearguard action as Berkane unleashed wave after wave of attack in an attempt to secure a vital away goal, with the scores still very close.

Ibrahima Ndiaye, a midfielder from Senegal, stood out as Zamalek showed incredible fortitude and organisation to stave off the enduring threat posed by their Moroccan rivals.

Late in the game, defender Hamza El Moussaoui’s straight red card reduced them to 10 men and forced them to commit even more bodies forward, which finally boiled over Berkane’s resentment.

However, Zamalek’s defenders held strong under tremendous pressure to complete a 2-1 aggregate triumph and set off joyous scenes of celebration.

For the Cairo-based team, who only recently won the title in the 2018–19 season to make it their second crown of the competition, it caps off an incredible comeback.

While Berkane came agonisingly close to victory on the road once more, their hopes of winning a third TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup in four years vanished from their hands.