Aboutrika to represent Ahly at CAF Awards ceremon
CAIRO: Egypt Olympic team slumped to a 2-0 away defeat to Ethiopia in the first-leg of the African Games qualifiers second-round on Sunday.
Saladin Tato put the hosts in front after 12 minutes after breaking through Egypt s poor defense before poking into the back of the net.
Lama Ntana doubled the lead five minutes from time after firing a long-range shot past Egypt keeper Amir Tawfik.
The Pharaohs have an uphill to climb when they face Ethiopia in the second-leg on March 11 given their recent shaky displays.
Egypt were held to a 1-1 home draw by Ivory Coast in the first leg of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games qualifiers second round
Mohamed Aboutrika has been chosen to represent Ahly at the 2006 CAF Awards ceremony scheduled for the Accra International Conference Centre on March 1.
“Ahly’s board decided to send Aboutrika to Accra to receive any prize on behalf of the club, an Ahly official told FilGoal.com on Saturday evening.
Aboutrika is in contention for the best player in the Champions League category along with Abdelkrim Nafti of Sfaxien and Didier Yakonan of Asec.
African champions Ahly have been nominated for best club along with Asec and Etoile Sahel of Tunisia.
Portuguese Manuel Jose is in the running for best coach award against Egyptian national team manager Hassan Shehata and Patrick Liewig of Asec.
However, Jose will not be able to travel to Ghana for the ceremony due to Ahly’s CAF Champions League match in Zimbabwe.
Shehata, on the other hand, will join Aboutrika on the trip, and will also represent African champions Egypt, who were nominated for the best national team alongside World Cup finalists Ghana and Ivory Coast.
On a different not, Ahly assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri said that new-signing, Abdul-Hamid Hassan will be sidelined for six weeks after sustaining a knee injury.
“I can’t believe our luck, Al-Badri said. “Injuries have become like a monster that is eating the team up.
