On this day 2 December 2000 (Exactly 20 years ago today) Ghana’s Hearts of Oak withstood a furious first-half onslaught and a sending off 25 minutes from time for an upset 2-1 away win over Esperance of Tunisia in the first leg of the African Champions League final.
Hearts’ goalkeeper Sammy Adjei made a sequence of brilliant saves to keep the half-time deficit down to just one goal and the Ghanaians then turned the game on its head with two breakaway goals to silence the vocal home support.
Esperance ran rampant in the first half with Ali Zitouni missing a succession of gilt-edged chances and Adjei made several superb stops.
But it was only a matter of time before the hosts found the net with Zitouni slamming home from close range after Hassen Gabsi had laid the ball back into his path. But Hearts brought a sudden stop to the attack just seven minutes after the interval when 18-year-old Ismael Addo sprinted away to equalise.
Mauritian referee Lim Kee Chong red carded Hearts defender Yaw Amankwah Mireku in the 65th minute for retaliation after he had been initially elbowed in the face.
But Esperance failed to take advantage of the extra man and were caught 11 minutes from time when substitute Emmanuel Adjogu set up the winner for Emmanuel Osei Kuffour.
It was only the second time that Esperance had lost at home in African club competition in 45 games stretching back to 1971. They were playing in their fourth successive African club competition final.
Esperance were the first club to get a grand slam of African club titles, winning the Champions League, the African Cup Winners’ Cup and the CAF Cup in the space of four years between 1994 and 1998. They were also runners-up in the previous year’s Champions League final, denied another title only in a post-match penalty shootout by Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
Such hadld been their home dominance that Esperance had scored 100 goals more than the 20 conceded in all their African club competition matches at the El Menzah stadium.
Five of their players in the match against Hearts had won medals in two previous finals and veteran goalkeeper Chokri El Ouaer, midfielders Sirajeddine Chihi and Hassan Gabsi and wingback Tarek Thabet had four winners’ medals.
But apart from Gabsi there was little evidence of the overwhelming dominance wich the ageing group of Esperance players have enjoyed in Africa in recent years. Instead a tired-looking team ran out of ideas against their youthful opponents from Ghana
Goal Scorers
Esperance – Ali Zitouni 36
Hearts – Ismael Addo 52, Osei Kuffour 79
Red card: Yaw Amankwah Mireku (Hearts) 65
Attendance: 30,000
Esperance: 1-Chokri El Ouaer; 7-Tarek Thabet, 6-Faycal Ben Ahmed, 15-Radhi Jaidi, 3-Hakim Nouira; 14-Sirajeddine Chihi, 8-Hassan Gabsi, 18-Maher Kanzari (6-Adailton 69), 2-Taoufik Hammani; 9-Ali Zitouni, 10-Reinaldo
Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)
Hearts of Oak: 1-Sammy Adjei; 6-Yaw Amankwah Mireku, 5-Jacob Nettey, 15-Agyeman Duah; 17-Stephen Tetteh, 14-Joe Ansah, 12-Charles Allotey (2-Daniel Ziem Quaye 76), 9-Adjah Tetteh, 3-Emmanuel Osei Kuffour,18-Ishmael Addo (10-Emmanuel Adjogu 59), 8-Charles Taylor (4-Edmund Copson 71)
Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)
Elsewhere;
On this day 2 December 2007 (Exactly 13 years ago today) At the Dansoman Carl Reindorf Park in Accra, Liberty Professionals began the soccer season on a high note when they thrashed Kumasi King Faisal 4-0 in the opening match of the 2007/2008 Onetouch Premier League.
Two goals in each half ensured that Liberty grabbed the maximum points at the expense of a Faisal side who looked too ordinary for the match.
Midfielder Samuel Ayew Yeboah grabbed a brace with a goal each from Yaw Antwi and Kojo Asamoah completing the rout against the Alhaji Gruzah boys.
On this day 2 December 2006 (Exactly 14 years ago today) Antonio Margarito defeated future champion Joshua Clottey by a twelve-round unanimous decision. Margarito set a Compubox all-time record of 1,675 total punches thrown in a twelve-round bout.
Margarito suffered from a severe sprained ankle only a week before the bout, and also had problems with his left shoulder as reported days before the fight.
Clottey suffered an injured left hand in round four, probably while landing a left uppercut. He immediately went into retreat and told his corner at the break.
Showtime reported this live, explaining why Clottey proceded to lose rounds five through eleven on all three official scorecards.
Clottey later admitted his hand was not broken as initially reported.
Bout Summary
Date: 2006-12-02
Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Judge: John Stewart 116-112
Judge: Henry Eugene Grant 118-109
Referee: Benjy Esteves Jr
Judge: Paul Venti 116-112
Referee: Benjy Esteves Jr
World Boxing Organization Welterweight Title (Margarito’s 7th defense)
On this day 2 December 2006 (Exactly 14 years ago today) In his last profesional boxing fight, Ike Quartey fought former undisputed light-middleweight champion Ronald “Winky” Wright at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida. Quartey was down once in the fight and went on to lose a unanimous points decision.
On this day 2 December 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Manchester United FC and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2008 Ballon d’Or, the coveted prize awarded by France Football for the European Player of the Year.
‘Dream’
Ronaldo topped the poll of 96 journalists worldwide organised by the French magazine and becomes the third Portuguese player to win the award following Eusébio in 1965 and Luís Figo in 2000. “I dreamt of this when I was younger,” the former Sporting Clube de Portugal player said at the ceremony in Paris.
“It’s a great day for me and my family. The Ballon d’or has been won by two great Portuguese players and for me to be part of that history is a great feeling. It’s incredible considering I only started my career a few years ago. I must thank all the people who voted for me and especially my team-mates who passed the ball to me to allow me to be the best.
Dazzling year
The 23-year-old, who succeeded AC Milan’s Brazilian playmaker Kaká, enjoyed another outstanding season for United in 2007/08, propelling Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to the UEFA Champions League and Premier League titles.
Ronaldo’s 31 Premier League goals earned him the European Golden Shoe, contributing to a total of 42 as he also finished top scorer in the UEFA Champions with seven, including one in the final against Chelsea FC.
Top marks
Ronaldo finished first in the voting on 446 points, ahead of FC Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi (281 points) and Liverpool FC and Spain forward Fernando Torres (179). Iker Casillas (133) and Xavi Hernández (97), two other members of Spain’s UEFA EURO 2008 tournament winning squad, completed the top five.
On this day 2 December 1950 (Exactly 70 years ago today) South African world bantamweight boxing champion Vic Toweel defeated Englishman Danny O’Sullivan in a title defense bout and earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for most opponent knockdowns scored during a championship fight, flooring Danny O’Sullivan fourteen times before the bout was stopped in the 10th round. (During a post-fight interview, Sullivan told reporters “Adkeivhaep oi er” before passing out.)
BY: GEORGE ‘Alan Green’ MAHAMAH