Ahly added on Tuesday youngsters Nasser Maher and Akram Tawfik to their African Champions League list, three days before meeting Tunisia's Esperance away from home in their penultimate group-stage game. The record eight-time African champions initially registered 26 players in their list before adding the names of winger Moemen Zakaraya and Salif Coulibaly, a Malian defender who joined in the summer. Ahly were undecided over the two remaining places before eventually deciding to add playmaker Nasser Maher and central midfielder Tawfik, who are both 20 years old. Nasser Maher, who spent last season on loan at Alexandria-based club Smouha, returned to his boyhood club in the summer and quickly established himself as one of their key players with some fine displays as Ahly seek to find a replacement for long-serving playmaker Abdallah El-Said, who departed in the off season after falling out with the club. Ahly will face already-qualified Esperance on Friday in Tunis as they seek to secure their passage to the last eight. Esperance lead Group A with ten points, three ahead of Ahly with two matches remaining. The Tunisian side who secured his place in the competition's round of 16 are leading group A with ten points, three points ahead of second placed Ahly. Ahly's French coach Patrice Carteron named his 23-man squad for the Esperance game. The Red Devils welcomed back Moroccan striker Walid Azaro after he missed the disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Lebanon's Nejmeh in the Arab Club Champions Cup round of 32 first-leg.
