AMIR Massoud was the hero and villain as African Confederation Cup holders CS Sfaxien of Tunisia made a shock fourth round exit this weekend despite a 2-0 win over Primeiro Agosto of Angola.

AMIR Massoud was the hero and villain as African Confederation Cup holders CS Sfaxien of Tunisia made a shock fourth round exit this weekend despite a 2-0 win over Primeiro Agosto of Angola.

The club from the Mediterranean town of Sfax entered the second leg at home needing to wipe out a 2-0 deficit from the first encounter against the military club in Luanda two weeks ago.

Sfaxien laid siege to the Angolan goalmouth from the kickoff at the 20000-seat Tayeb Mhiri Stadium as they sought to clear the final qualifying hurdle and continue to challenge for a third consecutive title.

Primeiro had numerous narrow escapes before finally cracking on the stroke of half time when they conceded a penalty that experienced African campaigner Issam Merdassi converted.

Sfaxien continued to squander chances in the second half in pursuit of an aggregate-levelling second goal before Massoud rescued an increasingly desperate situation by scoring in the 84th minute.

A 2-0 win for the home team meant a shootout with five kicks each and all were converted except that taken by Massoud, giving the visitors a 5-4 victory on penalties.

Sfaxien's exit means the holders of both Confederation of African Football competitions failed to defend their titles with Champions League holders Al-Ahly of Egypt eliminated by international rookies Kano Pillars of Nigeria.

Also through to the group phase of the African Confederation Cup are Stade Malien, the first Malian club to reach this stage of the competition. - Sapa-AFP