The decisive game, which features the winners of both the African Champions League and the Confederations Cup, is scheduled to take place at the Cairo International Stadium, after being moved from its previously designated venue at the Air Defense Stadium for organizational reasons, according to the African Football Confederation, CAF. Three defeats and one draw in the last five games in the National League competition has been the worst run for Ahli in more than a decade, much to the dismay of their fans, who are befuddled at this slump in form. The team had gotten off to a flying start at the beginning of the season's domestic competition, where the reigning Ahli collected maximum points from the first four games, scoring eight goals and not concede a single one. Unexpectedly and without any apparent reasons, Ahli found themselves at the end of an extremely disappointing run of results where they collected just four points from five games to find themselves third of their group with a game in hand to the fourth-placed team Ittihad of Alexandria. With only two teams from each of the national league's two groups up to qualify to the knock-out stages later in the season, Ahli, accustomed to winning the league effortlessly in recent seasons, are finding themselves on unfamiliar grounds. Teams like the Arab Contractors and Semouha will be surpassing them in the league table and in pole position to qualify to the next round if Ahli does not quickly recover from their shocking downfall. The timing of Ahli's collapse could not be worse as they are preparing to face the Sfaxien team, who registered six wins and one draw in their last eight games in the Tunisian League. Ahli's coach, Mohamed Youssef, said the game will be a matter of life and death to the club and that the players are ready to die on the field for the sake of lifting the trophy and overcoming the unprecedented slump of form the club is facing these days. Youssef has replaced head coach Hossam El-Badry, who had led the team to some impressive wins. Serving as El-Badry's assistant for years, even during the era of Portuguese coach Manuel Jose, Youssef took over as head coach one year ago. Youssef has recently apologised for the latest poor performance of his players, promising to get back in shape for the super game, saying the trophy will lift everybody's spirits, be they players or fans. However, according to reports from inside the club, it seems that although players respect Mohamed Youssef, they do not trust his coaching abilities. Some of the senior players believe that the job is bigger than Mohamed Youssef who lacks the experience to deal with stars accustomed to winning week in week out. These concerns can only be confirmed by looking at Youssef's track record since taking over as Ahli's main man in the dugout. Ahli suffered its first ever defeat at the hands of El-Gouna, who sit at the bottom of the league, El- Dakhleya and a first defeat in 18 years at the hands of the Arab Contractors. Former Zamalek Coach Tsopil has said that he believes the Arab Contractors will win the league as they are the best team in the country at the moment. Moreover, Ahli endured an extremely humiliating FIFA Club World Cup last December where they lost all their games and suffered their biggest defeat in the world competition, losing by five goals to one at the hands of Monterrey of Mexico. However, football director and former Ahli Star Sayed Abdel-Hafiz has promised fans they will lift the title, which will kick-start their season once again. A list of players that are touch and go for the game are Emad Meteb, Ahmed Fathi and Mohamed Naguib, while Sherif Abdel Fadil is out of the game with a knee injury. In preparation for its quest to claim the African Super Cup, defending champions Ahli has started a secretive camp since Monday to get ready for today's game at Cairo Stadium. Fans will be allowed to attend the game, which is hoped to have a positive impact on the players. The one-off match that pits 2013 Orange CAF Champions League winners, Ahli, against 2013 Orange CAF Confederation Cup winners, CS Sfaxien of Tunisia was initially scheduled for the Air Defense Stadium in Cairo. It will be the second meeting between the two clubs after the 2009 edition, which Ahli won 2-1 in Cairo. Ahli is the most successful club in the history of the CAF Super Cup with five titles (2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013), whilst Sfaxien were runners-up in 2008 and 2009.
