By Ben Efe
Sunshine Stars of Akure are hopeful of upstaging Al Ahly of Egypt in Cairo after the first leg CAF Champions League semi-final tie ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State at the weekend.

But Ahly assistant coach Mohammed Youssef, has advised Sunshine Stars to forget about a good result in the second leg. The Egyptians  made the only Nigerian club fighting continental battle to pay for their sloppy defending and they led 2-0 before the break.

But Sunshine fought back to level at 2-2, before Ahly came asking questions which Sunshine failed to answer. However, Osasco  Precious curled home a free kick six minutes from full time to level scores at 3-3.

“It is not over. We will go to Cairo and get the result that will take us to the final. If we get the kind of officiating that we had here in Cairo, we will get to the final,” stated Sunshine coach, Gbenga Ogunbote.

But his Egyptian counterpart, Youssef believes all that could be wishful thinking.

“We were close to snatching the victory but a draw is a good result for Ahly. We have another game in  Egypt. Our players did their best. We had many scoring chances.

“In the second leg we will do everything to qualify for the final. Sunshine can forget about it,” said the coach.

Sunshine will bank on the fact that they have posted impressive results in their travels to North Africa, the last being a 2-1 win over Algeria’s Aso Chlef during the group stages.

“We still have second leg to play. It has happened before and we survived it. We will again take the battle to Al Ahly in the second leg’’. said Sunshine’s midfielder,  Tamen Mendrano.

In the other semi-final match defending champions Esperance of Tunisia drew 0-0 with DR Congo outfit TP Mazembe on Sunday.

The two clubs have shared the last three Champions League titles between themselves, with the Congolese side winning in 2009 and 2010.