CAIRO - Egypt's soccer experts have blamed Al-Ahly coach Manuel Jose D' Silve for his team losing 1-0 in their Egypt Cup round of 16 tie against Enppi. This results means that the Red Devils have kissed goodbye to a second competition in less than a week, following their African Champions League exit. "Jose must be punished for Ahly being knocked out from two important championships in less than seven days," said Mohsen Saleh, a soccer expert, after the game. "Jose takes all the blame for what has happened, while the fans and the administration do their best to meet all the Portuguese coach's requests for new players.” Saleh compared the Red Devils' fans reaction with their reaction to ex-coach Hossam el-Badri. Al-Ahly crashed out of the Egypt Cup, courtesy of an own-goal from defender Rami Rabiea. Enppi will now face Police Union, who edged Petrojet 2-1. The veteran expert criticised Jose for starting with the unprepared striker Mohamed Fadl, as well as for dropping strikers Emad Me'teab and Dominic D' Silve from the team for the Cup tie, as a kind of punishment for the African exit. Hassan el-Mestikawi, another soccer expert, also criticised the Red Devils for their disastrous ACL and Egypt Cup performances, saying the team should be given a new nicknamed, the 'Old Lions'. "The coach should surely take the blame 100 per cent, because he chose the wrong players and made the wrong changes during the game," el-Mestikawi said. Taha Besri, a third soccer expert, agreed, adding that Jose delaying the changes till the second-half was one of his main mistakes. "The fans noticed right from the kick-off that Jose hadn't made the right choice of players," Besri said, pointing out that the coach himself only realised this halfway through the second half. Khaled Baioumi, a fourth soccer expert, criticised the coach for using the wrong formation, adding that the board won't punish Jose just yet, as Red Devils' system isn't to punish game by game but to wait till the end of the season. Some Ahly fans have been calling for Jose to go, because of the outfit's recent poor string of results. According to the media, the 65-years old coach has apologised to the team's fans for the early exit in the Egyptian Cup against Enppi, saying that his team played a very bad game and deserved to lose. The Red Devils' coaching staff have decided to get together today to prepare for the Egyptian Premier League, which starts on 14 October. Ahly general coach Pedro said that the African exit had a negative impact on the players' performance in the Cup tie. "Cup ties always spring surprises. Defeat isn't the end of the world," Pedro told a press conference after the game. Mokhtar Mokhtar, Enppi's coach, is delighted that his team have qualified for the next round of the Egypt Cup, stressing that the fitness of the players and the changes made in the second-half were what gave the Petroleum outfit the edge. Elsewhere, Arab Contractors beat el-Geish 1-0, while El-Nasr club left it till a penalty shootout to defeat Ittihad of Alexandria 3-2.
Egyptian Cup quarter-final games: Arab Contractors vs. Ismaili Haras el-Hodoud vs. El-Nasr Zamalek vs. Gouna Enppi vs. Police Union
