CAIRO - Al-Ahly club will hold their final training session at 5pm Friday in Cairo, before flying on Friday night to Addis Ababa, where they will face Ethiopian Coffee at 3pm (Cairo Local Time) on March 25, in the round of 32 of the African Champions League (ACL). Mohamed Youssef, Al-Ahly assistant coach, thinks the players can beat Ethiopian Coffee. "It's easier said than done, but we have every confidence in the players' ability to win this tricky ACL tie," he adds. The Red Devils will have two days before the game to get adjusted to the rarefied atmosphere of Addis Ababa. Ahly's two recent friendlies were cancelled for security reasons. A decision by the Ministry of Interior led the team to officially cancel these friendlies against Wady Degla and el-Dakhlia clubs. The Red Devils then played a secret friendly last Sunday against Sports Academy, stunning them 8-0. The Ahly coaching staff, headed by coach Manuel José da Silva, were relying on these friendlies to remedy some mistakes and to put the final touches to their preparations for the ACL clash. "We were in dire need of these friendlies before our ACL match, but we had to agree to the cancellation, for security reasons," Youssef stresses. Youssef explains that the team have also suffered many injuries before the ACL clash the injured players include strikers Emad Me'teab and, defender Wael Gomaa, as Senegal's Dominique Da Silva is doubtful. "Me'teab and Gomaa will miss the ACL clash," he says, adding that playmakers Mohamed Barakat and striker Mohamed Naggi 'Geddo' may play. Sayyed Abdel-Hafez, Ahly football director, says that the Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia phoned him, stressing that Ethiopia is now safe and secure. Reports recently said that tension had erupted between Ethiopia and Eritrea, following an incursion by the Ethiopian military. Moustafa Ahmedi, the media advisor at the Egyptian Embassy to Ethiopia, agrees that there Ahly mission that will travel to Ethiopia have nothing to worry about. "The clashes between Eritrea and Ethiopia on the borders are over now, and won't affect the game," he told Al-Ahly TV channel. Ahmedi added that security situation is not a problem, because the match will take place in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, which is secure and stable, adding that security will be beefed up for the Ahly mission. The Red Devils returned to training at the end of last month after a long absence, in the wake of the deadly scenes they witnessed in Port Said, which claimed the lives of at least 74 Al-Ahly fans and injured around 1,000 more at the end of a football match there. Seconds after the final whistle, thousands of supporters of Port Said team Al-Masry invaded the pitch, hurling bottles and rocks at the fans of Cairo's Ahly. Earlier this month, Al-Ahly held a training camp in the United Arab Emirates, where they played three friendlies, losing two and winning the third. The Red Devils defeated Dubai of the Emirates 1-0, while losing to Kuwaiti club of Kuwait 3-2 and to the Emirates club 4-3. Al-Ahly's Football Committee has agreed that the Red Devils will play a number of friendlies outside the country in April, says Adli el-Qeai, Ahly's Marketing Director. "We may play Getafe club of Spain in April 11 in Sudan and perhaps also the Kuwaiti club of Kuwait on April 16," he explains. “Prior to that, the Red Devils will face Saudi Al-Nahda club on April 2, a testimonial match for Al-Nahda player Nasser Al-Mansour, at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam.”
