1 - 7 November 2001
Issue No.558
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 1 - 7 November 2001 Issue No.558 |
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Giants are to tangle
Powerhouses Esperance and Ahli square off. Alaa Shahine gauges a storm brewing
Ahli and another North African soccer giant, Tunisia's Esperance, will provide continental fireworks when they face off in a pivotal African Champions League semi-final on Sunday in Cairo.
The two-time Egyptian champions haven't made it to the last four of this premier Pan- African football club competition since 1987. However, the arrival of Portuguese coach Manuel Jose this summer has brought with it a change of fortune, a semi-final berth after coming in second in Group B with 12 points. That was good enough for first place, but goal difference put Petro Atletico of Angola ahead and gave it a relatively easier encounter with Sundowns of South Africa on Saturday.
Esperance, winners in 1994 and losing finalists the last two years, qualified after topping Group A with nine points, two ahead of Sundowns.
The winners of the two clashes will meet in a $1 million first prize final in December.
Ahli and Esperance have met only once before, in the championship's quarter-finals in 1991. Ahli snatched a precious scoreless away point in Tunisia but failed to find the net in the second leg. In the ensuing penalty shootout before a sold-out Cairo Stadium, Esperance proved the club with steadier nerves to move into the semis.
"Such results are expected in these kinds of titanic clashes," Thabit El-Batal, Ahli's former football director, told the Weekly. "People have to forget about landslide victories in this advanced stage of the tournament. Football is unpredictable, and we are facing a tough opponent and neither the home nor the away match will be easy for either," El-Batal, a star Ahli goalkeeper, said.
However, El-Batal, who was in the squad that lost to Esperance 11 years ago, said he was optimistic. "I think Ahli will win on aggregate even if it ties in Cairo or wins by a slim margin," he said.
However, he warned his former compatriots not to be too hasty. "Esperance is a highly- experienced side and is used to playing under pressure." He added it was imperative for Ahli to avoid a repeat of its 4-2 drubbing by Petro last month in Cairo, a result that put Ahli's qualification hopes in jeopardy.
"I hope Ahli settles the affair in Cairo but the team's current form does not really say it will," Alaa Nabil, Egypt's national team assistant coach, said. But having seen several of its most recent matches, Nabil did not believe Esperance was that good either. "It's not the kind of side to frighten you," he said.
Indeed, despite its passage into the final four, Tunisia's famed black and gold side failed to win its last two encounters, playing to a scoreless home tie against Sundowns and losing 3-2 to Congo's Mazembe. However, it is on top of the domestic league with eight points following a 3-1 victory over Al-Malaab last week.
"The real problem is that Ahli are clearly out of form," Nabil said. "Had the quarter-finals been on a knockout basis, the team would have been eliminated according to its home and away results with Petro." Nabil also pointed to Ahli's poor start in the league, losing five points in four matches, including a shock 2-0 defeat against newly-promoted Ghazl El-Suez.
Nabil added he hoped Ahli advances to the final "because it's good preparation for their players who might be chosen for the national team's upcoming games."
Prominent sports critic Essam Abdel-Moneim tips the scale in Ahli's favour. "Its performance is improving and it is capable of winning big in Cairo. The circumstances of both teams are very much alike. But Ahli can restore its pride and confidence next Sunday," Abdel-Moneim said.
However, Abdel-Moneim, head of Al-Ahram's daily sports section, said the match would be anything but easy. "Any clash between Egypt and Tunisia is tough, especially after both countries were placed in the same group in the African Cup of Nations," which opens in Mali in January. "We hope the home advantage in the first leg will give our players the needed confidence to win."
Home has been good to Ahli. Its players will be walking onto the pitch backed up by a strong history when it plays in cavernous Cairo Stadium. Since the start of its participation in the competition in 1977, it has won 40 home matches, drawn four and lost only twice, boasting a 127-20 goal record.
Also in its favour is the morale booster it received in the group stage of the competition when it beat Chebab Blouizdad in Algeria, a country normally considered a no-win situation for Egyptian teams.
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