Cairo Stadium-Osama Khairy: Ahli manager Manuel Jose dismissed claims from Sfaxien assistant coach Ghazi Guidara that Mohamed Abou-Treika's opening goal in Saturday's match was illegitimate. Guidara questioned Abou-Treika's opener in the African Champions League Group A match that ended 2-1 in favor of the title holders, noting that the goal, which came from an indirect free-kick, was not touched before hugging the net. Jose responded sternly to the claim. "The rules of football are constantly changing," the Portuguese manager said in the post-game conference. "Tarek Al-Saied set-up the ball for Abou-Treika without moving it, which is legitimate, and their for the goal counts," he explained. Jose went on to describe the Tunisians as "sore losers" after Sfaxien coach Murad Mahjoub failed to show-up at the conference.
Abou-Treika after scoring He noted that Sfaxien should accept defeat and not blame referees for it. "Why blame the referee?" asked Jose. "We had two penalty claims turned down during the game and the referee neglected sending off a Sfaxien defender." "But we won't make a fuss about. We didn't make a fuss when we lost to Sfaxien in Tunisia, and we won't do it now either." Angolan Flavio Amado netted the second for Ahli before the interval while Tarak Ziadi scored the consolation goal for Sfaxien late in the second-half and the win secured Ahli's place in the semi-finals. Nevertheless, Jose offered his best wishes to Sfaxien in their upcoming game against Asante Kotoko, but issued a warning to the Tunisians. "If Sfaxien do reach the final of the competition against us, then it will be unfortunate for them," a confident Jose said. Guidara had to apologize for Mahjoub's no-show, claiming the Sfaxien coach was absent for "personal reasons".
