Ahli's football committee met with the first team players to boost their morale and ask them to "do their best in the upcoming crucial period". The committee, which includes club president Hassan Hamdi, Tarek Selim and Mahmoud Al-Khatib, informed the players that the next ten days will be crucial for the team's title hopes, assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri said on Monday. "Our main goal is to make Ahli's fans happy," Al-Badri told reporters after the meeting. The Egyptian champions will face Arab Contractors on Wednesday before taking on arch-rivals Zamalek in the anticipated Egyptian league match next Sunday. Ahli need only five points to retain their league title. "I'll personally follow-up with the players in the next few days to make sure they're all in line," Al-Badri said. "By qualifying to the quarter-finals of the African Champions League, we have reached our first goal of the season.
Osama Hosni "What's left is to win the local league and cup titles this season," he added. On the other hand, the team underwent a tough training session on Monday that saw attacking trio Mohamed Abou-Treika, Emad Meteb and Mohamed Barakat, returning from injury, giving an exemplary performance. The training session, which took place behind closed doors, saw Ahli fans booing coach Manuel Jose from behind the gates for denying them entry. Al-Badri described the incident as an emotional one on the part of the fans who do not understand that Jose wants his players to concentrate on the job at hand. Striker Osama Hosni was the only absentee in Monday's training session. Hosni told FilGoal.com that he felt a stinging pain in his groin muscle and was excused by the coaching staff. Ahli will hold a two-day closed training camp on Friday to prepare for the match against Zamalek, Al-Badri concluded.
