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South African Lakay Scores Pyramids' Winner in Egypt

A general view shows Tahrir Square following the coronavirus outbreak in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
A general view shows Tahrir Square following the coronavirus outbreak in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
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South African Lakay Scores Pyramids' Winner in Egypt

A general view shows Tahrir Square following the coronavirus outbreak in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
A general view shows Tahrir Square following the coronavirus outbreak in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)

South African Fagrie Lakay scored to give Pyramids of Egypt a 1-0 win over TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday in the first 2024 CAF Champions League group match.

When the ball was crossed from the right wing on 54 minutes, Fiston Mayele chested it back to Lakay, who unleashed a low shot that flew past goalkeeper Alioune Faty into the corner.

Senegalese Faty was deputizing for injured first choice Baggio Siadi, and Mazembe defender Kevin Mondeko was also ruled out of the Group A clash in Cairo.

Pyramids, who have lived in the shadows of more successful and popular Cairo neighbours Al Ahly and Zamalek for many seasons, are playing in the elite African competition for the first time.

Mazembe, five times winners of the Champions League, were returning to group action after being eliminated at the qualifying stage in the past two seasons.

The other Group A fixture between Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Nouadhibou of Mauritania, originally scheduled for Friday in Pretoria, has been moved to Sunday, AFP reported.

Sundowns, recent winners of the inaugural African Football League, are expected to win the group with Pyramids and Mazembe fighting to finish second and also qualify for the knockout phase.

Later on Friday, Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria, quarter-finalists in the past three editions of the Champions League, defeated Young Africans of Tanzania 3-0 in Algiers.

Abdelraouf Benguit and Abderrahmane Meziane netted in the first half of the Group D encounter and Gambian substitute Lamin Jallow completed the scoring in added time.

While the result was anticipated, the wide winning margin was not as Young Africans impressed when reaching the final of the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup last season.

Title-holders and record 11-time Champions League winners Al Ahly host group debutants Medeama of Ghana on Saturday in the same section.

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‘They Killed Her Dream’: Israel Strike Leaves Lebanese Woman Footballer in Coma

An undated handout photo obtained from the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) on November 19, 2024, shows Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar celebrating with a tournament cup after a football match in Jordan. (Lebanese Football Association / AFP)
An undated handout photo obtained from the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) on November 19, 2024, shows Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar celebrating with a tournament cup after a football match in Jordan. (Lebanese Football Association / AFP)
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‘They Killed Her Dream’: Israel Strike Leaves Lebanese Woman Footballer in Coma

An undated handout photo obtained from the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) on November 19, 2024, shows Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar celebrating with a tournament cup after a football match in Jordan. (Lebanese Football Association / AFP)
An undated handout photo obtained from the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) on November 19, 2024, shows Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar celebrating with a tournament cup after a football match in Jordan. (Lebanese Football Association / AFP)

Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar was about to make her dream of playing for the national women's team come true, but debris from an Israeli strike left the 19-year-old in a medically induced coma.

After full-blown war erupted in September, Haidar's family were among more than a million people who fled south Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds, as Israeli bombs rained down.

"But Celine had to come back to (south) Beirut for her studies and training," her father Abbas Haidar told AFP.

"She would leave the house after evacuation calls were issued or bombing intensified, then she'd come back home at night to sleep," he said.

Now, she is the latest athlete to become a casualty of Israeli strikes, which already forced the Lebanese Football Association to postpone all domestic football competitions indefinitely.

On Saturday, her father called her to warn of new evacuation orders published by the Israeli military online and she left the house.

But soon after, "my wife called to tell me Celine was in the hospital," he said.

She had been seriously wounded in an Israeli strike on her home neighborhood of Chiyah, as the air force pummeled Beirut's southern suburbs.

- Cracked skull -

Footage of Haidar lying unconscious on the ground, her face covered in blood, while a young man beside her cried in pain took Lebanese social media by storm.

"The strike was close and she was hit in the head," her mother Sanaa Shahrour told AFP. "My daughter has a brain hemorrhage, her skull is cracked."

She said her daughter had sent her a message asking her to prepare her favorite dish, but "an hour later her friend called to say she had been wounded".

"My daughter is a heroine," she said, her eyes red with tears.

"She's strong. She will get back up and play again," she said.

"She dreamt of competing abroad. She said she wanted to be like (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi... She wanted to be a star and for everyone to talk about her.

"Now everyone is talking about her because she was wounded in a war that she has nothing to do with," she said.

"She has beautiful dreams," she said, but "they killed her dream."

- 'A fighter' on the pitch -

Haidar was a pillar of her club, Beirut Football Academy (BFA), which won the Lebanese Women's Football League last season without dropping a single point, and was due to don the captain's armband this season.

The midfielder was also part of the national women's Under-18 team that won the 2022 West Asian Football Federation championship.

Now she is in a medically induced coma, team manager Ziad Saade said.

"The doctors are following her very closely," her father told AFP from the Saint George Hospital in Beirut where his daughter is being treated.

"But her injuries are serious, we hope she will gradually heal," he said with tears in his eyes.

"We're paying the price for something that's not our fault."

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,544 people have been killed since Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel in October last year, with most deaths recorded since Israel stepped up its campaign in September.

"On the pitch, she's a fighter, she was the link between defense and attack," coach Samer Barbary said, as he and teammates visited her at the hospital.

"She is an exceptional girl and an excellent player."