CAIRO: Ahly manager Manuel Jose admitted that he negatively affected his team performance with the changes he made against Mamelodi Sundownson Saturday in the first leg of the last 16 stage of the CAF Champions League.
My players weren’t at their best and they lost their concentration during the last 20 minutes which cost us a lot, said the Portuguese coach.
The African champions looked set for a comfortable victory after a goal in each half from Mohamed Barakat and Amado Flavio put them in front but then they totally lost their pace and their lead was cancelled within 10 minutes.
The turning point was when midfielder Hossam Ashour came in for striker Emad Meteb.
I don’t know what happened but since he came in it seemed we were playing only with 10 men on the field, added Jose angrily, who confirmed that there will be a lot of sanctions on some players who lost such an easy chance of securing a place in the last eight.
On the other hand Sundowns’ Manager Gordon Igesund blamed luck for the draw.
With more luck we could have won this game. We created a lot of chances. Anyway we got a second chance and we’ll have to go to Egypt and win there.
It’s in our hands and I think we proved to ourselves that they can be easily beaten.
The second leg will be played in Cairo on April 20.
