CAIRO: Ahly coach Manuel Jose was disappointed following his side’s 4-0 friendly defeat to Barcelona, labeling the players’ performance as the worst in the season .
The Cairo giants were celebrating their 100-year anniversary but were incapable of matching European champions Barcelona, whose win was a walk in the park thanks to Samuel Eto’o’s brace and goals from Krkic Perez and Javier Saviola.
The result does not concern me, I’m unhappy because Ahly looked like an unfamiliar team which I do not manage, Jose was quoted as saying by the club’s official website after the match.
A defeat is acceptable but the way we played was inappropriate, the players played as if they never experienced any football action before.
We should have played better especially that we were facing the best team in the world but strong fear dominated my players which is a very bad habit in Egyptian football.
The Portuguese boss stated that what happened against Barca was similar to the experience Ahly had in their first Club World Cup participation in December 2005 when fear got the better of players.
He also lamented the absence of midfielder Mohamed Barakat, who couldn’t take part in the game due to injury.
