Al-Ahly club media spokesman, Gamal Gabr, says that the Cairo team appointed him for the title; So he is not afraid to face any other team, “every match has special circumstances, and you need special preparation in order to win.”
Gabr added to Sky News Arabia: “Of course, qualifying for the next rounds will not be easy, but we have a distinguished group of experienced and young players, and we are fully confident in their abilities to win (African Champions) for the third time in a row, and achieve an unprecedented historical achievement.”
Sundowns face
With the announcement of the draw, the confrontation of Al-Ahly and Sun Downs became a “trend” on social media platforms, due to its repetition during the last three editions of the African Championship,
The Red Genie managed to oust the South African team from the championship twice, while Sun Downs ousted the red team from the “African Champions” only once, during which Al-Ahly suffered the biggest defeat in its African history with five clean points.
Commenting on this upcoming confrontation, Jamal Jabr says that Sun Downs is a big team, and that Al-Ahly was expecting to meet him during the group stage or the upcoming rounds of the tournament.
And he continues: “With the progress in the tournament, you should expect to meet the leaders of the continent, including Sun Downs, and the history of the two teams’ confrontations will make the group stage matches have a special character, but I repeat that Al-Ahly is ready to face any team, and we trust in the abilities of our players to achieve victory against any competitor.” .
Crescent and Mars
During the last hours, a number of media reports indicated that Al Hilal and Al Merreikh may be prevented from playing in their stadiums in Khartoum for not meeting the criteria set by the Confederation of African Football for all Champions League clubs, provided that the “CAF” resolve this matter, on the tenth of next January.
In this regard, a number of sports critics indicated that Al-Hilal and Al-Marikh playing their matches away from their land is in the interest of Al-Ahly and increases its chances of qualifying.
Al-Ahly club media spokesman, Jamal Gabr, explains that the Cairo club has not received any official statement about the stadiums for the Al-Ahly and two Sudanese matches, noting that Al-Ahly adheres to the decisions of the “Kef”, whether to play in Sudan or another country.
Mosimane controversy
After the draw, many criticisms were directed at CAF, due to the choice of Al-Ahly club coach, South Africa, Pitso Mosimane; to draw the lottery.
The media and former international player, Ahmed Hossam “Mido”, tweeted on his official page on Twitter: “A new fall for the African Union by allowing a coach participating in the tournament to draw the lottery…the first time it happened in history.”
Ali Abu Greisha, vice-president of Sudan’s Al-Merreikh Club, also objected to Musimani’s withdrawal of the African Champions League draw, saying in press statements: “It cannot be a representative of a team participating in the tournament who draws the Champions League draw.”
In this regard, Gamal Gabr says that Al-Ahly club is not asked about this matter, but the Confederation of African Football, “Mosimane received an invitation from (CAF), as one of the best coaches of the continent, before he was the technical director of the Cairo club, so Al-Ahly is not a party to this. Basically, the crisis, it is CAF that can respond to these criticisms.”
It is worth noting that the other three groups in this role were as follows:
Group Two: Raja of Morocco, Houria Conakry of Guinea, ES Setif of Algeria, and Amazlo of South Africa.
Group C: Tunisia’s Esperance, Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel, Algeria’s Chabab Belouizdad, and Botswana’s Guaneng Galaxy.
Group D: Wydad of Morocco, Zamalek of Egypt, Petro Atletico of Angola, and Sagrada of Angola.
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