Asyut-Adel Nosaih: Ahli coach Manuel Jose insisted that Angolan striker Flavio Amado is an "important member" of his squad, whether he scores or not. Jose's praise comes after the Angolan international scored a brace in Ahli's 3-1 victory over Asyut Petroleum in the Egyptian league on Monday. "Flavio is a pivotal player," Jose told reporters after the game. "He's been an important member of the squad since joining and has stepped up for the team when there have been a number of injuries within our ranks," the Portuguese manager added.
Flavio's double ended a scoring-draught that lasted almost a year with Ahli, despite scoring for Angola in both the African Cup of Nations and 2006 World Cup finals. Jose dished out praise for the rest of Ahli's players for withstanding the heat and coping with injuries and exhaustion to come up with the win. Meanwhile, Jose's opposite number at Asyut Petroleum, Ramadan Al-Sayed, said he was happy to see his team perform so well against the Egyptian champions, despite the defeat. And while Al-Sayed hailed his players for canceling out Ahli's first goal, he held goalkeeper Abdou Shaaban and his defense responsible for Ahli's second goal, which he believes was a turning point in the game.
