Kenya Police will not be progressing to the Group Stage of the 24/25 CAF Confederation Cup at their very first time of asking following a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Egyptian giants and tournament defending champions Zamalek.
Having suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat in the first leg, Kenya Police had hoped to overturn the tie when they travelled for the second leg but a 2-1 defeat at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday night, saw the team bow out of the continental competition where they were making their debut.
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The Kenyan side had managed to soak pressure from the first half, with goalkeeper Patrick Matasi particularly making three saves to ensure the deadlock remained intact at the break.
However, ten minutes into the second half, the diminutive Mohamed Sayed, popularly known as Zizo, finished off a sweeping team move to open the scoring for his side.
It all started with some intricate playing from the back ignited by goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhy who picked out Omar Gaber in the middle of the park. Gaber’s clever first-time touch took out three Police players who had gone to close him down, leaving acres of space for Mostafa Shalaby who drove foward.
Gaber came back to create an overlap and delivered an inch-perfect cross to Zizo who guided his low shot past a scrambling Matasi.
Zamalek book spot in 24/25 CAF Confederation Cup
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Just six minutes later, one goal turned into two as Zamalek punished Police who made a poor attempt of playing from the back as Musa Mohammed’s pass back to his keeper was pounced on by Naser Elhamaed who had an easy tap-in.
New Police signing Jesse Were halved the deficit on the night with a close range header from Abud Omar’s freekick but the goal proved too little too late as the match ended in Zamalek’s favour.
The result means Zamalek have booked their spot in the group stages of the Confederation Cup while Police turn their focus back to the 24/25 Football Kenya Federation Premier League heading into Round 3.
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Tujiamini is an initiative that seeks to provide a platform, including up to 30M shillings in funding, for individual, team sports and various talent, in a year-long campaign that will go around the country in a move aimed at evoking the sense of pride in Kenya’s sports and talent ecosystem.
Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke