Follow-up – Osama Khairy: Ahli boss Manuel Jose insisted that lack of motivation was the main reason behind the players' average performance in their 3-0 second-leg victory over Kenyan club Tusker in the African Champions League round of 32. “Our 2-0 victory over Tusker in the first-leg put the players to rest, that's why they lacked the necessary motivation to go the extra mile in the second-leg. The rain also didn't do much to improve their performance,” Jose told reporters in a press conference after the match. Ahli qualified to the African Champions League round of 16 after beating the Kenyan champions 5-0 on aggregate. The Portuguese coach also said that he was amazed that the fans don't attend the club matches that were against weaker teams and insisted that fan presence would be crucial in their local game against Ismaili on Wednesday. Jose revealed that he was going to bench Emad Al-Nahas during the Tusker match, given that they end the first half two goals ahead, to prevent his fatigue but he was forced to keep him in the field to keep the team on their toes until they scored the second goal eight minutes from time.
Asked about Mohamed Abou-Treika's absence from the Ismaili match, Jose said: “I wont complain about his absence, I have other in-form players and I will choose the squad accordingly.” “I will do my best to ensure that we win the match so that we can increase the gap between us and Zamalek. This should weaken their spirits and ambitions,” he added. Osama Hosni, who opened the score for Ahli in their match against Tusker, was replaced in the match after picking up a mild muscle strain, but Jose said that he thought he will be in shape for the Ismaili match. “We decided to ban fan presence in our training sessions after noticing that most of the people who come were younger audience who obviously skip their classes to come and watch us. In any case, fans should attend the matches and not the trainings,” Jose insisted. Ahli are scheduled to play four match in a period of just 12 days. They will start with their coming match against Ismaili before taking on Masri, Ittihad Alexandria and Asmant Suez.
