Egyptian giants, Al Ahly Nigeria’s Sunshine Stars FC tried to provoke Egytpian giants, Al Ahly, in an attempt to distract the attention of the players and the coaching staff before their expected meeting on Saturday, in the semi-final of the African Champions League.
Differences took place between the Director of Football at Al Ahly, Sayed Abdul Hafeez, and the match observer because the latter allowed one of the Nigerian TV channels to shoot inside the training session, something that Hafeez had outright refused.
However, the crisis was resolved in a friendly way and the channel was allowed to film a part of the training as well as having an interview with Coach Hossam Al Badri and Dominique da Silva, the Al Ahly striker.
The Egyptian team did its training on Friday afternoon in high spirits at the main stadium in the presence of Hassan Hamdy, the club’s President and Hady Khashaba, a stalwart for the club, in preparation for Saturday's match. Al Badri focused during the training on applying constant pressure on the player who controls the ball.
The coach also showed some footage from various Sunshine Stars' matches, and explained to the players the rival team’s style and their strengths and weaknesses.
Da Silva and Ahmed Fathy, the club’s right midfielder, did some therapeutic exercises under the supervision of the team’s doctor, Ehab Ali, before joining the rest of the team.
They reportedly both felt stiffness in their knees during the training session on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Al Badri is not satisfied with the surface on which the game will be held because he says the land is not flat and has holes hidden amid the grass, but added that “we were accustomed to such harassment in the jungles of Africa when I was a player. My players are at their technical and physical best, ready to come away victorious.”
Khashaba also emphasised his belief that they will overcome all these difficulties. He noted that he has confidence in the ability and experience of Al Ahly players and expected them to come through the test.
He added that “the key battle will be in midfield which is full of stars players. There will be no problem as we have large number of players in the midfield and the victory will come to the best prepared players, technically and physically.”
The coaching staff of Sunrise Stars, however, also spoke bullishly and confirmed that the team has no fear about the upcoming confrontation.