NAIROBI, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- After three years away, Kenya's record league winners Gor Mahia FC returned to the prestigious CAF Champions League, having secured their 20th league title last season.
Gor Mahia progressed through the first qualifying round with a 5-2 aggregate win against South Sudan's Al Merreikh Bentiu. In the second round, they faced holders and record 12-time CAF Champions League winners Al Ahly of Egypt.
On Sunday, thousands of fans, known as the Green Army, filled Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi to support their team against the African club football giants, who had received a bye from the first round.
Hopes were high, but within 20 minutes of kickoff, Gor Mahia were already 2-0 down, despite enjoying much of the play. Ramy Rabia opened the scoring in the 14th minute, and South African forward Percy Tau added the second just two minutes later. Tau completed his brace in the 74th minute, securing a 3-0 away victory for the defending champions.
"We met a strong team, but I am very happy with the win and the performance. I am sure the second leg will not be easy, so we will have to give our best to win that too," said Al Ahly head coach Marcel Kohler.
Gor Mahia's coach, Brazilian Leonardo Leiva, rued the defeat, attributing it to mistakes despite dominating possession. The poor playing surface at Nyayo allowed the Egyptian giants to comfortably soak up pressure and hit on the counterattack.
The stadium is officially closed for repairs ahead of the 2025 CHAN and 2027 AFCON finals but was partially reopened to accommodate the two Kenyan clubs involved in continental club football.
On Saturday, Kenya Police FC suffered a 1-0 defeat to another Egyptian giants, Zamalek, the defending CAF Confederations Cup champions, in the first leg of their second-round qualifier.
Gor Mahia will travel to Cairo for the second leg against Al Ahly on Saturday. However, their elimination from the competition seems almost inevitable unless a miracle occurs.
"This is a really great result for us, a big win against Gor Mahia, which is the best team in Kenya with a huge fan base. But in the return leg in Cairo, I am confident we will beat them by a bigger margin - maybe four, five, or even six goals," said Ahmed Algas, an Al Ahly fan who traveled to Kenya to watch his team.
The result highlights the gap between established teams and Kenyan sides in continental football, a disparity that has persisted since the 1980s and early 1990s.
Gor Mahia remains the only East African team to have won a continental title, having lifted the 1987 CAF Winners' Cup after defeating four-time CAF Champions League winners Esperance de Tunis in the final.
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier recently admitted that the community-based team cannot compete with the might of Al Ahly unless the club transforms into a limited company.
"We traveled to Tanzania to benchmark with Yanga SC to see how they transformed from a community club into a company that is fully supported by their fans," Rachier told the "One on One" podcast with Jeff Kinyanjui last week.
"Operating as a corporate entity gives us the resources to compete with the kind of salaries offered by these big clubs, build our own stadium, and leverage our huge support to earn revenue for the club through things like Gor credit cards, replica jerseys, etc.," he added.
Tanzanian champions Yanga made the finals of the 2022-2024 Confederations Cup before reaching the last eight of last season's CAF Champions League, narrowly missing the semifinals after being eliminated 3-2 on penalties by Mamelodi Sundowns.
This season, Yanga is in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League group stages, having defeated CBE FC of Ethiopia 1-0 in the first leg of their second-round tie in Addis Ababa.
Rachier, who has led Gor Mahia for 16 years, also hinted that the draws for the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup are skewed in favor of North African clubs at the expense of those from other parts of the continent.
With Kenya set to co-host the 2025 CHAN and 2027 AFCON, Gor Mahia's heavy defeat serves as a reminder of the work needed to produce a team capable of competing with Africa's best. ■
