Sfaxien book their place at King Salman Club Cup finals

RIYADH: Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien are through to the group stages of the King Salman Club Cup with a 2-0 win against Sudan’s Al-Hilal S.C. in the second leg. 

Mohamed Abdel-Rahman’s first-leg penalty raised Al-Hilal’s optimism, but second-half goals by Aziz Al-Sayihi and Barakat Al-Hamidi in the second leg in Sfax ended all hope for the Omdurman team’s participation in the Arab world’s premier club contest, which Saudi Arabia is hosting this year.

Sayihi’s confident back-post header on the 65th minute drew the home side level on aggregate before Hamidi scored a close-range goal with three minutes to go in the tie.

In Group A, Sfaxien will join Saudi league champions Al-Ittihad, who have spent the summer beefing up their squad with top European signings, including World Cup winners Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante. The two teams will meet at King Fahd stadium in Taif on July 30. 

Tunisian side ES Tunis and Iraq’s Al-Shorta are also in Group A.

The competition, also known as the Arab Club Champions Cup, will take place between July 27 and Aug. 12.