Al Ahly: We will go to South Africa with only one goal

Al Ahly’s director of football Sayed Abdel-Hafiz has stressed the importance of the Egyptian side’s win over Coton Sport while discussing their upcoming clash against Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Al Ahly defeated Cameroonian side Coton Sport 3-0 in their third group game of the CAF Champions League this season.

The win put Al Ahly’s CAF Champions League campaign back on track with the club now third in their group, five points behind Al Hilal and three behind Masandawana.

Al Hilal have played one more match.

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Their next game will be against Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa on Saturday, 11 March, with the Reds having no option but to at least pick up a draw to keep their qualification chances alive.

Kick-off is at 15:00.

Al Ahly faced similar difficulties in the past

“An essential win at a crucial time. We had no choice but to win after the Al Hilal loss and then drawing with Sundowns,” Sayed Abdel-Hafiz said after the Coton Sport win.

“The Coton game was challenging in light of the group’s circumstances, but the qualification is still in our hands.

“In the last three Champions Leagues that we won (2013, 2020, and 2021), we faced the same difficulties in the group stage, and despite that, we qualified in the end.

“For example, in 2013, there were difficult circumstances, and had Zamalek with us in the same group, and we draw in the opening game, and then lost to Orlando, but we qualified.

“The next Sundowns game, we will go with only one goal, which is to achieve a positive result, but we hope that we can pick up a win, because it will put us in another place,” he added.