Al Ahly stunned Spanish giants Real Madrid with a 1-0 win in a friendly match played at the Cairo Stadium on Saturday evening.

It was a result that not even the most ardent Al Ahly fans could have predicted.

But the Egyptians should have won by a bigger margin than the single goal scored by newly-signed Nigerian Ibrahim Sunday.

The goal came after Khaled Bebo embarked on a superb counter attacking solo run before passing to Hossam Ghazy who beat the Real goalkeeper Cesar to the ball. Sunday was on hand to steer the ball into an empty net.

De Silva's first game

The Egyptians, playing for the first time under their new Portuguese coach Emmanuel de Silva, employed the counter-attack to great effect.

In the second half especially, Al Ahly created several chances with Ala'a Ibrahim and Bebo hitting the bar.

Real's two superstars Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane failed to make an impression and were both substituted in the second half.

The stark reality was that Real simply did not resemble the top-class side everyone knows they are. The hot weather and their refusal to train in Cairo may well have contributed to their lacklustre performance.

But the 66,000 fans who crammed into the Cairo Stadium were not be interested in any excuses as the fireworks set off the celebrations immediately after the final whistle.