Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane expressed his delight after his charges booked their place in African Champions League quarter-finals.
The Red Devils cruised after rallying back after snatching a 2-2 draw away to Al Merreikh on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 26th minute courtesy of Ramadan Agab’s powerful a header past Mohamed El-Shenawy. Saif Terry doubled his club’s advantage 10 minutes later.
Al Ahly pulled one back after being awarded a penalty, which Badr Banoun converted to make it 2-1. Yasser Ibrahim bagged the equalizer late on to secure a spot in the last eight.
Coach Mosimane said after the game, that he had prepared the boys for such a situation as the team’s target has now been achieved.
“It was a difficult game, which saw four goals with each team netting twice. It was an open game as I expected before the match,” said Mosimane.
“We created many scoring chances in the game but we failed to convert them to goals. I believe that the draw is a fair result.We did many mistakes in the match and several of our players were out of form which affected our performance.
“I was sure that we can bounce back in the second half. I believe in my players and their ability to deliver.
“We lost to Simba SC away from home but we managed to win against AS Vita Club in DR Congo and we secured a draw in Sudan against Al Merrikh to qualify to the quarter-finals.
“All the teams that topped their groups don’t wish to face Al Ahly. We are a strong team and we won the competition on 9 occasions. Finally, we will continue our journey to defend our title.”
Al Ahly will host Simba of Tanzania in Cairo next weekend in a match of mere formality while Al Merreikh are set for a trip to Kinshasa on match-day six where they will face AS Vita in a dead rubber showdown.
