CAIRO: Coach Manuel Jose says hot favorites Al-Ahly must overcome huge pressure this weekend when they host Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon in the first leg of the African Champions League final.
When we play at the Cairo Stadium my players are always under pressure from our supporters, admitted the 62-year-old Portuguese coach with a fondness for chewing gum Sir Alex Ferguson-style.
Jose, seeking a fourth Champions League crown with the Cairo Red Devils in eight years, blamed nerves when Ahly struggled to overcome Nigerian visitors Enyimba 1-0 in the semi-finals two weeks ago.
Away from home when Ahly are under no pressure, we perform well. We put on a good display when forcing a goalless draw against Enyimba in Aba despite playing on a terrible pitch, he told reporters.
We will do our best to win the first leg in Cairo against Cotonsport to make our task of overcoming them easier. Ahly have the best footballers in Africa so we should go for a win whenever and wherever we play.
Chasing a record sixth Champions League title, Ahly defeated Platinum Stars of South Africa, Zamalek of Egypt, Dynamos of Zimbabwe and Enyimba of Nigeria at home and drew with ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast en route to the final.
But some victory margins were narrower than expected with Ahly having two goals to spare over African rookies Platinum, but only one in the other three Cairo triumphs.
And they were lucky to overcome Dynamos with midfielder Mohamed Abou-Trika, the best known Ahly star, snatching the decisive goal in a 2-1 win four minutes into stoppage time.
In previous African campaigns, an early Ahly strike was often the signal for a goal avalanche, but this failed to materialize after Angolan striker Flavio Amado headed his team into a 26th-minute lead against Enyimba.
Jose, the most successful foreign coach of Ahly in their 102-year history, has come under fire from the Egyptian media for the failure of his star-studded squad to win more decisively.
Filgoal.com columnist Amro Hassan believes the coach is too cautious with second-half substitutions, treating average opponents as if they were European champions Manchester United.
Citing the home match against Enyimba, Hassan criticized the introduction of Tunisian Anis Boujelbane and Sayed Mouwad, saying Ahly ended a home fixture with three defensive midfielders.
It s no wonder that over the last two seasons Ahly have been fighting to win every big game. Why do that while your team is strong enough to produce better performances and larger winning margins? asked Hassan.
Jose has also come under fire for deploying only slightly built Amado up front since Emad Moteab moved to Saudi Arabia on loan after a transfer to English Championship club Bristol City fell through.
Although Egypt 2006 and 2008 African Nations Cup-winning captain Ahmed Hassan missed training on Tuesday due to a rib injury, the veteran midfielder is expected to be available for the African showpiece. -AFP
