CAIRO: Ahli assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri believes the players' poor display was to blame for their shock exit from the Egyptian Cup at the hands of second-division side Asyut Petroleum.The Cairo giants, who dominated Egypt's secondary competition in the past two years, slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Asyut to suffer an early elimination from round 32 of the competition.Ahli boss Manuel Jose had no alternative but to field a second-string line-up due to the absence of several regulars for international duty.The back-ups weren't up to the challenge, according to Al-Badri."Their display throughout the match was very poor, he told FilGoal.com."The absence of almost 70 percent from our regular first-team members also heavily contributed to our surprising defeat. However, Al-Badri stated that big surprises are essential features of cup competitions all over the world.Ahli have fined midfielder Moataz Eno and Ahmed Adel Abdul-Moneim LE 5,000 each for their technical mistakes during Friday's 1-0 defeat against Asyut Petroleum in the Egyptian Cup.Eno will also be fined for being sent off during the game. Meanwhile, the club's football committee is set to have an emergency meeting with manager Manuel Jose following the team's shock exit from Egypt Cup."We will discuss the reasons of the defeat and the team's needs during the upcoming period to put the team back on track, assistant manager Hossam Al-Badri was quoted saying on the club's official website.
