By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane has hailed his players following their victory over Mamelodi Sundowns while assuring they will aim to score in South Africa.
Similar to last year, the Reds managed to secure a 2-0 victory in Cairo, thanks to goals from Taher Mohamed Taher and Salah Mohsen.
The visitors had more of the ball, but it was Al Ahly who were more clinical in front of goal and managed to grab a huge advantage ahead of the Pretoria trip.
Despite facing criticism for his side’s poor performance, Al Ahly and Egypt legend Wael Gooma has come to defend Mosimane, saying the South African dealt with the game smartly.
Mosimane has agreed with Gomaa while saying that Sundowns have changed their style of playing from his time there.
“It was a difficult match, but we knew how to manage it and we have no excuses because Al Ahly is a big team,” Mosimane said in his post-match conference.
“Sundowns is a great team and their off-ball movements are good. They are among the favorites to win the Champions League because of their style of playing.
We needed to play with intelligence in the second half and not with enthusiasm. Mohamed El-Shennawy played a great match and saved a dangerous chance, and bringing on Salah Mohsen was a remarkable change.
“Sundowns played in a different way than he used to play with me. They played in a spectacular and fun way, but football is governed by results and goals.
“We prepared well for the game and Al Ahly players were soldiers.
“We will bring Ali Maaloul for the trip to South Africa in the return leg, and it is possible that he will be ready to participate in the CAF Super Cup. We have Mahmoud Wahid and Ayman Ashraf, so there is no need to worry.
“Al Ahly is a big team, and therefore we are not afraid of the return-leg. The match will be difficult and there will be pressure on both teams.
“I don’t play with excessive confidence, I never do it while I have been a coach for 20 years.
“We have not qualified yet. We will not be fooled by the result, we all saw great results for Bayern Munich, and how Liverpool came back against Barcelona in 2019.
“We won thanks to the opponent’s mistakes, but we have no room for excessive confidence.
You must be humble when you win so that people remember you at the time of loss. I was a player and coach for Sundowns and won several titles with them over the years, so I have more respect for my former team.
“Scoring against Sundowns will not make me forget the credit of this club over me, and I also contributed to what they achieved.
“Sphelele Mkhulise is a wonderful player. He is similar to Kante and Iniesta. He is a promising young man and I was behind his promotion to the first team, and today he has shown his quality.
“I do not want to talk much about the Sundowns players because the media will say that I want to sign them for Al. The only player that we have already negotiated for Al Ahly was Gastón Sirino,” he added.
Meanwhile Mamelodi Sundowns’ coach Manqoba Mngqithi believes his team will qualify from South Africa despite the 2-0 defeat against Al Ahly in Cairo.
Manqoba started his press conference by saying: “It was a difficult match. We played well and unfortunately, we did not score.”
“The first half is over, and the second will be in Johannesburg.
We dominated the midfield and wasted more than one chance. The performance in the second half was better, but we did not create the same number of chances we did in the first half.
“Mohamed El-Shennawy was very present and saved more than one goal.
“I respect Al Ahly. They have smart players like Mohamed Sherif, Afsha and Taher Mohamed. I am convinced that we are a great team, and this is just a one match loss.
“I am satisfied with the performance of my team and we were better at times. The qualification rate is 60% in favor of Al Ahly. However, we have the advantage of playing the second leg at our stadium, and will be able to score multiple goals.
In the end, the Cairo Red Devils marched to a pretty comfortable first-leg victory with the return-leg set for next weekend.