Africa Final: Al-Ahly decides the “go” … and Saif Al-Din’s goal ignites the “second leg”

Between the ambition of regaining the title by Al-Ahly of Egypt, and preserving the cup in the coffers of Moroccan Wydad Athletic, the two teams face off (Sunday) in the first leg of the CAF Champions League final, at the “Cairo International Stadium” in front of about fifty thousand spectators who will be allowed to attend the stands.

The two teams knew each other very well; As they meet in the final of the competition for the third time in six seasons, and the second in a row, as the Moroccan team excelled against the Cairo giants, who were crowned ten times (a record).

It is the seventeenth time that two Arab teams meet in the final of the prestigious continental championship, and the sixteenth for Al-Ahly in the final, as it is the first time in 40 years that the same two teams meet in the final of two consecutive editions, when Al-Ahly faced Ghanaian Kotoko in 1982 and 1983.

Al-Ahly had previously met with Wydad in 11 previous confrontations, in which it won four times, and Wydad won 3, compared to 4 draws.

The Egyptian team is fully aware of the importance of exploiting the land factor. As Wydad won the 2017 title by winning the return leg at home with the goal of Walid Al-Karti, and last season the final was played from one match, which Wydad won in Casablanca with a double by Zouhair El-Metraji.

The Swiss coach of Al-Ahly, Marcel Koller, said: “We will suffer a lot against Wydad if we play the (Sunday) match with a performance below our true level, or recklessness in an attack at the expense of defensive insurance, in addition to recklessness and wasting easy opportunities.”

In turn, midfielder Mohamed Magdy (Afsha) confirmed that his team did not enter the match with the intention of taking revenge: “Wydad is a great team and we respect it very much. It is a final match between two great teams, but we are playing for the title.”

And after matters indicated the readiness of international goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy to play the match, he was excluded from the squad for not recovering from a rupture in the calf. Kohler chooses between the duo, Ali Lotfi, the second goalkeeper, who returned from a slight strain in the posterior muscle, and the third goalkeeper, Mustafa Ahmed Schubert.

Doubts also arise about midfielder Hamdi Fathi joining the first leg due to injury as well, and therefore Koller will rely on the four-defense team Mohamed Hani, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, the Tunisian Ali Maaloul, and the three midfielders Amr Al-Souliya, Marwan Attia and the Mali Aliou Diang, and in the attack, the South African Percy Tao and Hussein Al-Shahat. And Mahmoud Abdel Moneim (electrification).

Algerian Al-Ahly player Ahmed Qandoussi said: “We have a state of intense focus in order to win the title, and we arm ourselves with the fans who give us great motivation in the matches, and we expect a lot from them in the Wydad meeting, as they give us support.”

On the other hand, Wydad, who has defended the title three times, will come to Cairo with its striking force. The Belgian Sven Vandenbroek, the fourth coach of the Moroccan team this season, regained the efforts of his Senegalese scorer Pauly Sambo after his recovery from injury, like Abdullah Haimoud, and he hopes that Algerian defender Hussein Ben Ayada will join the meeting.

Vandenbroek described those who think the final is easy as crazy: “All finals are difficult. It will be a difficult match for both teams. The coach who says the final is easy is crazy. He added, “We face Al-Ahly, who used to reach the final in the past five years. He outperforms us in titles.”

The Belgian called on the team’s fans to support him: “Even if we do not achieve a positive result in the first leg, we will correct the situation in the second leg.”

Wydad defeated Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the semi-finals (0-0, 2-2), and Al-Ahly beat Esperance of Tunisia (3-0, 1-0).

Vandenbroucke relied on goalkeeper Youssef Motea, who acquired the status of “international” after the coach of the “Atlas Lions” Walid Rekraki called him to the next national team list instead of Ahmed Reda Al-Teknaouti. He also has many options in the defense line, but the constant will be the international full-backs Yahya Atiyatallah and Ayoub Al-Amoud. As well as Amin Farhan, Amin Abul-Fath, and Congolese Democrat Arsene Zola.

The international center is led by Yahya Gibran, with Hamoud and Reda Al-Jaadi, and in the attack, Zuhair Al-Mutraji, Sambo and the veteran Muhammad Onajem.

The Referees Committee of the African Union assigned the task of managing the first-leg match to Libyan Moataz Al-Shalmani.