{"id":1349,"date":"2025-07-23T17:18:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T09:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/?p=1349"},"modified":"2025-07-23T17:18:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T09:18:49","slug":"al-hilal-become-dual-champions-after-triumph-in-war-torn-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/al-hilal-become-dual-champions-after-triumph-in-war-torn-sudan\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Hilal become dual champions after triumph in war-torn Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Al Hilal became champions in two countries when they thumped Al Merrikh 4-0 on Tuesday to win the Elite League in Sudan, where a civil war has been raging since 2023.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To escape a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, according to the United Nations, Al Hilal and Merrikh competed in the Mauritanian championship, finishing first and sixth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Confederation of African Football rules state that only national champions can enter the CAF Champions League, forcing the two clubs to return home and play in army-controlled northeast venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national army have recaptured the capital, Khartoum, after two years of occupation by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, but fighting rages in other parts of the east African nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we bring news from around the continent, including a personal triumph for Brazilian forward Lucas Ribeiro from South African club Mamelodi Sundowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Hilal hammered greatest domestic rivals Merrikh after building a three-goal lead by half-time to be crowned Sudanese champions a record-extending 31st time. Hilal (plus 11) won the title on goal difference from Al Ahly Madani (plus 6) after both sides secured 14 points in the eight-club mini-league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snatching the title means Al Hilal will extend a remarkable record of competing in the Champions League every season since 2004 while Madani will represent Sudan in the competition for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa
The goal Ribeiro scored for South African champions Sundowns against Borussia Dortmund has been voted the best of the 2025 Club World Cup in a FIFA online poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Securing possession in midfield, the 26-year-old used pace and footwork to burst through the defence before calmly shooting past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for Sundowns, the first goal of the group match in the 11th minute triggered an immediate response from the German outfit, who scored four times before finishing 4-3 winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanzania
Simba captain Mohammed Husseini will not have his contract renewed by Simba after 12 years at a club who have dominated Tanzanian football for decades, with Dar es Salaam neighbours Young Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 28-year-old left-back joined Simba from Kagera Sugar in 2014 and has been a first choice under various coaches, including current incumbent, South African Fadlu Davids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simba were runners-up in the CAF Confederation Cup and Tanzanian Premier League last season and suffered a surprise semi-finals loss to Singida Black Stars in the Tanzanian FA Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdul-Karim Zito has been elevated from caretaker to head coach of Asante Kotoko, a Ghanaian club seeking to become giants again in the West African nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-time African champions came third in the league last season behind first-time title-holders Bibiani Gold Stars, then beat Golden Kick with an added-time goal to win the Ghana FA Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifting the cup qualified Kotoko for the CAF Confederation Cup, the second-tier African competition where Zito exceeded expectations in 2024 by taking another Ghanaian club, Dreams, to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uganda
Widely travelled Belgian coach Ivan Minnaert has swapped one domestic champion club for another by moving from Fassell of Liberia to Vipers of Uganda. Monrovia-based Fassell finished 11 points ahead of Heaven Eleven in the Liberian title race to be crowned national champions for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vipers, whose home ground lies 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the capital Kampala, won a much tighter Ugandan league chase, securing just two points more than runners-up NEC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Al Hilal became champions in two countries when they th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1351,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions\/1351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}