CAIRO - Sayed Abdel-Hafez, Al-Ahly football director, says that the result against Ethiopian Coffee was, favourable, with the cancellation of the Premier League and the friendlies. "To get a draw away from home, given the problems we have been up against, is a respectable achievement," adds Abdel-Hafez, stressing that he is confidence that the players can win the second leg. Ahly's two recent friendlies were cancelled for security reasons. A decision from the Ministry of Interior meant the team had to officially cancel these friendlies against Wady Degla and el-Dakhlia clubs. The Red Devils then played a secret friendly last week against Sports Academy, stunning them 8-0. The Ahly coaching staff, headed by Manuel José da Silva, were relying on these friendlies to rectify some mistakes ahead of the ACL clash. The game was the Red Devils' first official one since the Port Said tragedy that claimed the lives of at least 74 Al-Ahly fans and injured more than 1,000, leading to the cancellation of the Egyptian Premier League this season. 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. 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, the Red Devils held a training camp in the United Arab Emirates, where they played three friendlies, losing two and winning the third. Al-Ahly defeated Dubai of the Emirates 1-0, while losing to Kuwaiti club of Kuwait 3-2 and to the Emirates club 4-3.
