Ahli players are ready to overcome the death of teammate Mohamed Abdul-Wahab and concentrate on their African Champions League match against Sfaxien of Tunisia, assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri said. Ahli's players saw Abdul-Wahab collapse on the field during a training session on Thursday. The 22-year-old was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital. "We are very sad, but determined to beat Sfaxien," Al-Badri told Egyptian Youth and Sports radio station in an interview late on Monday. The African champions are set to face Sfaxien in Cairo in the fourth round of the Champions League Group A quarter-finals on Saturday and Al-Badri believes Abdul-Wahab's passing will serve more as a motive than a burden. "The players want to win, not just for the three points, but for their deceased teammate," he said. "If we win on Saturday, the players and coaching staff will donate their bonus money to Abdul-Wahab's family, which will be more of an incentive for us," Al-Badri added.
Abdul-Wahab Ahli had lost to Sfaxien 1-0 in their opening Group A game, a defeat that ended the Egyptian champions' two-year unbeaten run in African competitions. Al-Badri believes this factor by itself will provide Ahli's players with the incentive to beat their Tunisian opponents. "This game is between the best two teams in the quarter-finals, and winning Saturday's match means we can top the group and avenge our defeat in the opening game." Sfaxien are currently in charge of Group A on 9 points, two points ahead of defending champions Ahli who are in second place. Asked if midfielder Mohamed Barakat would be fit for the game Al-Badri said: "He is improving, but his rehabilitation program was interrupted by the death of Abdul-Wahab." "Barakat will start training with his teammates this week but won't be fielded because it's a big gamble and we don't want to rush him, especially that we expect the game to be very physical." As for Emad Meteb, Al-Badri said that the star striker has recovered from his injury and will resume training on Tuesday in order to be ready for the game.
