Ahly's Malian defender Salif Coulibaly said he felt part of the team upon joining in, thanks to the support of his teammates and the technical staff's confidence into his abilities. The 30-year-old joined the Reds early in July and was immediately put through his paces, having played in the African Champions League games against Township Rollers and made an impact by scoring the winner in Saturday's 1-0 win in Gaborone. "It has been only a few weeks for me here but I feel a lot of support from my teammates and they helped me a lot to blend in. I am already thankful for coach Carteron who gave me this opportunity and has faith in me. I am working hard to help the team win and stay on top," Coulibaly told the club's official website on Monday. French coach Patrice Carteron insisted on signing the towering centre-back (1.91m) – who was a free agent – to beef up his shaky backline. He had already worked with Coulibaly while in charge of Mali and TP Mazembe. "Ahly have all what is necessary to win this year's Champions League title. We are focused on that target. I have already won the title with TP Mazembe in 2015 and I hope I can do it this year with Ahly and coach Carteron again," said Coulibaly. The eight-time African Champions recovered from a slow start after claiming back-to-back victories against the Rollers. The Cairo giants are now close to qualifying for the quarter finals of the African Champions League. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
