CAIRO: It could have been gold bullion, or classified documents about what kind of razor blades Mahmoud Ahmedinijad uses, or how Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary got pregnant when we all know she’s – well, you know.
It was none of the above, but an invaluable cargo all the same, at least to Ahli. The prize consignment was a video of a match featuring Auckland City, the team Ahli face Sunday at the start of the World Club Championship in Japan.
I’ll explain.
So little did Ahli of Egypt know about their New Zealand opponent that the club made a public call for any information that could help. After searching far and wide, a taped match was delivered by plane from the ambassador of Egypt to Australia to the ambassador of Egypt to Japan, to the anxious arms of Ahli.
Ahli might be overestimating a team from part of the world more into cricket and rugby than soccer, and which beat its relatively weak Oceania group for the first time.
But Ahli are taking no chances, still smarting from last year’s misadventure when they were upended by Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in game one and after another loss to lowly FC Sydney, dutifully finished dead last out of the six teams.
To avoid a similar fiasco, Ahli last week traveled to Tokyo eight days before the tournament began to acclimatize themselves to the 47 degree Fahrenheit temperature (showers are expected tomorrow during game time starting 12:30 p.m.) and the seven-hours-ahead time difference.
This year, Ahli are taking this championship more seriously, and why not? It pays well. Ahli got $1 million just to show up and will collect $1.5 million if they beat Auckland.
The tournament is also where Ahli crave to be discovered. The club has reaped every piece of silverware there is in African and Arab football but are still “Ahli who? outside the continent. Such a status could change and there is no better place for the metamorphosis than the World Club Championship, which is like the World Cup but for clubs.
Though not as popular as its World Cup cousin, the World Club Championship has proven to be as competitive and engaging as many had imagined when the idea to hold a championship to decide the world s best team was dreamt up in the late 1950s.
During those post-World War II years when sport was helping the world come together and soothe painful memories of conflict, football in Europe and South America was globally dominant. The World Cup was by then wildly popular and the contest between the contrasting styles of nations from Europe and South America was the talk of the day. So it was only natural that a championship be held between clubs from these two distant continents to show who was the best club in the world.
With time the tournament grew to encompass more teams representing more continents, making the World Club Championship not easy to win or even qualify for. To do so, you must be the best in your country, then in your continent. So difficult is that feat that only Ahli are making a repeat appearance from last year. This year Barcelona, Internacional, Club America, Jeonbuk Motors and Auckland City replaced Liverpool, Sao Paulo, Deportivo Saprissa, Ittihad and FC Melbourne.
Opportunity for Ahli has knocked more than once. They have been given a second chance and should try to make the most of it.
They will play a maximum of three games. A short, knockout series such as this can work both ways. One boo-boo and it’s all over. One play of the day and Ahli are into the semis against Brazil’s Internacional. But first Auckland and redemption.
