A SECOND LEG, CAF Champions League semifinal clash of epic proportions is in the offing when Al AHly host Mamelodi Sundowns in Cairo on Friday.
After playing to a goalless stalemate in a chess-like encounter at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, the two teams will have to open up in the cauldron of the Cairo Stadium in a quest for a place in the final. Such is the mutual respect between the two teams that no one was willing to take unnecessary risks in the opening leg, the Red Devils incredibly playing with five defenders while Sundowns struggled to play with their normal passing rhythm.
It was to be expected though given how the 2016 champions had previously hit the Egyptians for a five not once but twice in Pretoria and Ahly never having won on South African soil. Sundowns knew only too well not to go gung-ho against the record champions who are chasing a hat-trick of successes.
There has to be a winner on Friday though and that should make for a much more open match, Ahly sure to be egged on by their partisan crowd while Sundowns will be inspired by the desire to upset their hosts. And the coaches of both sides are confident it will be them marching on to the ultimate stage of the continent’s premier club knockout competition.
“I have a strong belief that we can do it in Cairo when we go for the second match,” Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso told the media in the post-match conference “It was not the best match, a typical semifinal in which two teams try to explore while protecting their goal.”
Cardoso expressed his pride at the fact Ahly are afraid of them.
“The Ahly structure was unique. They respected us so much that they worried about closing the spaces. They played narrows and close, we never saw them play four centre-backs to close the middle as much as possible. And they achieved their objective (of no conceding),”
But it was not for lack of trying by Sundowns who – despite not having a shot on target – strove to pierce open their adversaries’ rearguard.
“We could not score the goal. We did not have the capacity because we didn’t play alone. You have to consider who we are facing or who we are playing against. You have to respect who you have in front of you. We tried different ways and organized the team to go against that defensive organization (of Ahly). We knew it would be a match without lots of chances and that they are dangerous on the counter-attack.”
All that notwithstanding, the Brazilians’ Portuguese coach remains confident Sundowns will reach their second final of the Champions League having last won the competition back in 2016.
“I still believe we can beat them. The match is not over yet. We got to the second leg and it will be a different match. Of course, whoever goes through the other team will not be happy but these are two of the top ranked teams in Africa. I believe we can go there and win considering how strong we were in Tunisia (against Esperance in the quarterfinal second leg).”
His counterpart Marcel Kohler also believes it will be his team that progresses to the ultimate stage come Friday.
“It’s only half time. We have another half time of the game and we should have 100 percent concentration in Cairo. We have seen a great game; a tough game between two strong teams. We had a lot of discipline to not let the opponent make too many chances and we created a lot of chances. It was hard not to score those chances.”
The Swiss coach added: “We know that Sundowns can score away and we should be careful about conceding a goal. We need to finish the match there (in Cairo).”