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No personal rivalry with El-Ashri: Ahly boss 'I refuse to call the match a personal rivalry with my fellow countryman [Tarek] El-Ashri, whom I respect a lot', says Mohamed Youssef
Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef has insisted he has no personal rivalry with his Ahly Benghazi counterpart and fellow countryman Tarek El-Ashri. The Cairo giants will play in the round of 16 on Sunday against Libyan side Ahly Benghazi, who qualified after a 2-0 home win over Ghanaian outfit Berekum Chelsea. Defending champions, Ahly,escaped a potentially embarrassing exit in the round of 32 in Alexandria on Sunday, beating Tanzanian side Young Africans 4-3 on penalties. "I refuse to call the match apersonal rivalry with my fellow countryman El-Ashri, whom I respect a lot. It is an ordinary football match," Youssef was quoted as saying by the club's official website late on Monday. Suffering from their fans' absence againstYoung Africansdue to security issues, Ahly continued their disappointing series of displays and struggled to be consistent, missing many chances. "I hope stability can be restored to Egyptian football as soon as possible," the rookie coach said. "Ahly's concentration has been negatively affected by the tournament's poor arrangements and uncertainty over stadiums," he added. The attendance of fans at games has been a critical bone of contention in Egypt since the Port Said tragedy in February 2012. Since then, Cairo giants Ahly and Zamalek have faced a dilemma in finding stadiums for their continental matches due to security concerns. Both teams were ordered to play the remainder of their Champions League campaign behind closed doors due to recent tensions between their fans and security forces. (For more sports news and updates,followAhramOnline Sportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/96410.aspx
