Egyptian football fans temporarily shut out the domestic league to watch Ahli's match with Bayern Munich with eyes wide open, Ahmed Morsy reports Egypt champions Ahli showed their mettle in a brave display which was close to securing a deserved draw against German giants Bayern Munich in a friendly in Qatar on Saturday. It was only an untimely blunder by Ahli keeper Sherif Ekrami in stoppage time that helped Bayern Munich claim a 2-1 win in Doha during Bayern's winter camp which was readying the team for the next half of the season of the Bundesliga. It was the second clash between the two sides. Ahli won 2-1 in their only previous meeting back in 1977 in Cairo. In a one-sided first half in Qatar, Bayern dominated possession and appeared ultra superior as Ahli's coach Manuel Jose deployed a heavyweight-defensive strategy. After only five minutes, Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich had their top scorer Mario Gomez forced off with an injury, with Croatia international Ivica Olic coming on to replace him. In the 31st minute, Bayern took the lead through an own goal by Ahmed El-Sayed. Winger Toni Kroos ran onto a lobbed pass from Arjen Robben on the left to manoeuvre Ahli's right back Ahmed Fathi and clipped the ball over the keeper to Olic, who headed home despite a desperate effort by defender El-Sayed on the goal-line to clear the ball. One minute before the break, Ahli's first real chance fell to Abdullah El-Said when the attacking midfielder took advantage of a poor defensive clearance from Jerome Boateng to fire a low shot from the edge of the area. Nevertheless, the German right back made amends for his mistake after rushing to the goal-line to clear the ball. Seconds before the interval's whistle, Dutch ace Robben could have doubled the lead when he went one-on-one with Ekrami after beating the offside trap, but the Ahli keeper did superbly to thwart. Ahli came out of the dressing room with a higher morale which brought about a totally different display, thanks to the introduction of veteran playmaker Mohamed Abu Treika and Brazilian striker Fabio Junior for El-Said and Mohamed 'Gedo' Nagi respectively. Only five minutes after the interval, Abu Treika provided mercurial Mohamed Barakat with a defence- splitting pass which allowed him to slot home with aplomb past the onrushing goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to level the score. The equaliser boosted Ahli's confidence while the German side seemed to deflate as the first half domination turned into an evenly balanced contest. Moreover, Ahli began to rely on an intricate passing game which drew admiration from the largely partisan crowd of expatriate Egyptians and in which they dominated possession. But Olic was there again to claim the winner in the dying moments. Ekrami put a poor punch to Robben's free kick cross, allowing Olic to notch home into the empty net in spite of the many Ahli defenders inside the area. As a result of Ahli's solid display, the Bavarians' manager Jupp Heynckes said during the post-match press conference that the friendly with Ahli seemed like a Champions League encounter. "Tactically, Ahli played like a European team. It was like a Champions League game," Heynckes said. "They were committed tactically and played a good game and that surely helps us in our preparation for the next half of the season." Two days earlier, Bayern Munich had rang warning bells after a ruthless 13-0 victory over Qatari second division side Siliya as part of their winter break tour. "Playing against famous teams like Bayern Munich has several benefits," Gamal El-Zuheiri, Akhbar Al-Riyada editor-in-chief, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "It helps the players physically and tactically as they will do their best to keep up with such superior teams as was the case with Ahli in the second half. "Playing with smaller teams is usually a detriment. Hence, we always support such invaluable friendly games," El-Zuheiri said. "In addition, it enhances the fame of the Egyptian teams worldwide and also helps regarding the promotional side." Egypt's Barakat revelled in his precious goal against the German heavyweights, teasingly shrugging it off as nothing. "It's a good experience to play against such a big team like Bayern Munich. We responded on the pitch to those who expected a bitter defeat for us," Barakat told Ahli TV channel. On his goal in the 50th minute, Barakat dripped sarcasm. "It's completely natural for me to score against Bayern Munich and their goalkeeper Manuel Neuer!" He laughed, thanking teammate Abu Treika for the assist. "It's always a great experience to play against the best teams in the world, but now we have to concentrate again on our busy league schedule," Barakat added. Ahli's fans gathered in café shops to watch their team playing one of the best European squads. "We were astonished by the performance of Ahli during the second half of the game," Eslam Essam, 28, told the Weekly. "After the game, the cameras captured a desperate Ahli fan who was in the stadium. I think it should be a historic picture representing an Ahli fan who was extremely dejected after being defeated by Bayern Munich 2-1," Essam said. Back home, Ahli are currently battling for their eighth successive league title and are third with 26 points, two behind league leaders Haras Al-Hedoud. Ahli were scheduled to play Military Production yesterday 11 January. Military Production announced the appointment of Mohamed Helmi as coach, replacing Kamal Etman. Etman stepped down following the team's poor run of results, saying "the atmosphere has become unsuitable to work in." Production, who were promoted to the top flight two seasons ago, lie 15th with a single win from 12 games. Zamalek claimed a 1-0 hard fought win over Wadi Degla in a rescheduled game from the first week of the domestic league. Zamalek are now in fourth place with 23 points after 10 games. Zamalek were scheduled to play Al-Gouna yesterday. Amr Zaki says he has officially backtracked on his decision to leave Zamalek after receiving a "large sum" of his late dues. The Egypt striker said last week that he is done with Zamalek after the Cairo club had failed to pay his fees in full before the transfer window on 4 January. However, the prolonged saga seems to have ended after Zaki received LE1.37 million out of LE3 million from last season.
