A poor African Champions League group stage home record returned to haunt title-holders ES Setif this weekend when they lost 2-1 against fellow Algerians USM Alger.
Setif were favoured to win the Group B matchday 1 clash on the strength of having won the premier African club competition a second time last year.
But USM, back in the mini-league last-eight phase after 11 years, must have sensed they had a chance given the continuous failures of Setif to exploit home advantage.
The “Black Eagles” lifted the trophy last season despite drawing all three home group games, and a previous appearance in 2010 yielded only one win, a draw and a defeat.
Setif did look the likelier scorers at Stade du 8 Mai until Alger snatched two goals within 13 minutes during the second half.
Mohammed Seguer broke the deadlock on the hour in eastern Algeria by heading in a Zineddine Ferhat cross.
Captain Nassereddine Khoualed doubled the lead by finishing off a free-kick.
Setif coach Kheireddine Madoui, who guided the club to African glory last year, reacted by introducing El Hedi Belameiri and Ilyes Korbiaa.
The double substitution worked with Setif laying siege to the Alger goalmouth and Korbiaa halved the deficit six minutes from time.
But 2003 Champions League semi-finalists Alger survived the onslaught and now host Al Merrikh of Sudan in a top-of-the-table July 10 fixture.
Striker Bakri Al Madina starred as Merrikh triumphed 2-0 against Algerian visitors MC El Eulma in Omdurman, across the Nile river from Khartoum.
Adel Naamane diverted a seemingly harmless Al Madina cross past goalkeeper Mohammed Ousserir and into his own net after just six minutes.
The early goal set the tone for the first half with the hosts executing the pre-match rallying cry of Franco-Italian coach Diego Garzitto to “attack, attack, attack”.
Ghanaian Francis Coffie and Nigerian Solomon Jabason were among the Merrikh attackers who came close to increasing the lead.
Al Madina was guilty of wasting chances, but atoned 11 minutes into the second half by scoring from close range after Coffie set him up.
A serious situation for Eulma worsened just past the hour when Naamane was sent off for a foul on Al Madina.
El Eulma, hoping to become only the second lower-division club after Setif in 1988 to win the Champions League, were denied a late goal when goalkeeper Salim Omar foiled Walid Derrardja.
Another Sudanese club, Al Hilal, are away to four-time champions TP Mazembe in DR Congo on Sunday when Group A kicks off.
The final matchday 1 fixture has Smouha of Egypt hosting Moghreb Tetouan of Morocco in Mediterranean city Alexandria.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
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Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
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Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.