Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Aden McCarthy and his new side Sabah FK have qualified for the UEFA Champions League league phase after a seven-goal thriller on Tuesday.
Sabah beat Israeli Premier League champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva 5-2 in extra-time, with McCarthy coming off the bench in the 91st minute.
Be’er Sheva had won the first leg 2-1 and opened the scoring via Igor Zlatanovic after 10 minutes. But Sabah scored the equaliser via Christian Nwachukwu after 38 minutes.
All hope looked lost when the visitors went ahead 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate in the 61st minute via Guy Mizrahi, but Sabah mounted an impressive comeback.
Umarali Rakhmonaliev equalised after 74 minutes before Teller Mutallimov forced extra-time with a much-celebrated 3-2 in the 94th minute of injury-time.
The visitors got reduced to 10 men when Djibril Diop got sent off in the 100th minute, and Patrick Orphan M’Bina netted the deciding 4-2 in the 101st minute.
Joy Lance Mickels made it even better, putting the nail in the coffin of Be’er Sheva with the 5-2 in the 115th minute.
The result saw Sabah progress 6-4 on aggregate, and book their ticket for the Champions League league phase.