Wydad through to AFL final despite Espérance scare

Wydad Casablanca defeated Esperance Tunis today to reach the African Football League final.

Brazilian forward Rodrigo Rodriguez scored the first goal for Esperance Tunis in the 66 minute of the match. The goal, however, was insufficient as the team needed more than one goal to reach the final.

The finalist was only determined after penalties. Wydad Casablanca won the game on penalties 5-4 to finish as a finalist in the competition.

Today’s game is the second leg of the inaugural African Football League semi-finals. The first leg took place on Sunday. Wydad won the previous game 1-0.

Since Wydad Casablanca won the first leg of the semi-finals, Esperance Tunis’ goal today in the second leg leveled the score between the two teams. As a result, the winner was determined by a penalty shootout.

The African Football League is a new tournament overseen by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and backed by FIFA.

The competition features eight of the strongest teams from different regions.

This year, the competition featured Egyptian champions Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Tunisia’s Esperance, as well as DR Congo’s TP Mazembe and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, among other clubs – including Nigeria’s Enyimba FC, Angola’s Petroleos de Luanda, and Tanzania’s Simba SC.

“Central to the AFL is a vision of transforming club football in Africa and making its top sides globally competitive both on-pitch and commercially,” CAF said, stressing that a key part of the plan is to distribute revenues and resources evenly amongst CAF’s 54 members.

“The AFL promises to stimulate development across Africa and balance the landscape in the continent’s favourite sport. It represents CAF’s most daring attempt yet to shake up the status quo and achieve lasting change in African football,” CAF concluded.