Heartland to face tough hurdle in second leg

Heartland FC of Owerri will not have it easy in Congo at the return leg of the CAF Champions League final, after recording a slim 2-1 victory over TP Mazembe in the first leg. The result depicts a tough duel for Heartland at the Stade de La Kenya in Lubumbashi on November 7, 2009.

The visiting TP Mazembe, despite the 2-1 loss, are capable of getting a good result to overturn the deficit. However, Heartland will hold on to the fact that the Congolese team lost their last match at their stadium 2-0 to Al-Hilal of Sudan in the second leg of their semi-final match. They won the first leg in Omdurman 5-2.

Intent on justifying their ranking as the 10th Best Africa Club of the 20th Century by FIFA recognised International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), Mazembe went into the match with a fortitude which soon paid off before the half time.

In the 23rd minute, Congolese gangling forward, Mabi Mputu, who helped his country to a first place finish at the Africa Championships of Nations Cup held in Cote d' Ivoire last year, sent Mazembe into the lead.

Joy cut short

However, Mazembe's joy was short-lived as Heartland, whose mainstay in this year's tournament has been their fortitude, grabbed the equaliser five minutes after Mputu had put the Congolese club in the lead when Uche Agba found the net.

Both teams continued to jostle for the ball around the pitch with neither side finding the back of the net when the referee, Abdel Fatah Essam of Egypt called for the half time break.

For the most part of the 2nd half of the crucial encounter, Mazembe, who are bent getting a favourable away result before the second leg in Congo next week, resolutely kept the Heartland's strikers at bay.

Agba saves the day

Heartland's day was saved by Uche Agba, who has scored six goals on the continent this season. He scored the crucial goal in the 80th minute to make it 2-1 and put an end to Mazembe's dream of an away draw.

Mazembe, which is chasing a third title after 41 years since it got its second, will hope to defeat the Kelechi Emetole-tutored Heartland when they visit Congo for the second leg in seven days.

Heartland, on the other hand, has never won the continental trophy - only making it once to the finals in 1988. They will go into the 2nd leg with the knowledge that a draw of any kind is enough for them to win the much converted trophy, as well as a place in the FIFA Club World Championship at the United Arab Emirates in December.