'Penalties can go either way': Koller's response to Ahly's African Super Cup loss

Ahmed Seif , Saturday 28 Sep 2024

Ahly head coach Marcel Koller addressed the media on Saturday following his team’s defeat to Zamalek in the 2024 African Super Cup, attributing the loss to a lack of finishing and the unpredictable nature of penalty shootouts.

Koller
Ahly head coach Marcel Koller (Photo: Ahly's official X account)

 

Zamalek secured their fifth African Super Cup title after defeating Ahly 4-3 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in regular time at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. The match, closely contested throughout, saw Zamalek equalize late in the game before emerging victorious in the shootout.

"Anyone who works in sports knows that matches involve both winning and losing," Koller said during the post-match press conference.

"We tried our best, but Zamalek managed to score the equalizer in the final quarter, and in penalties, it can go either way," he added.

"It's not my role to evaluate the opponent. I can only speak about my team. We won our first two games in the CAF Champions League, but today we didn’t capitalize on the chances we created," he noted.

The Swiss coach also addressed his pre-match comments about keeping the lineup a surprise, clarifying that it was a response to pressure from journalists. "I didn’t mean anything beyond that; it was simply a reaction to the constant questions," he explained.

Koller added that the absence of key international players during training had impacted the squad’s cohesion. "We trained for some time without our international players, which affected the team’s overall performance. We still have a lot of work ahead to reach our desired level," he concluded.

Zamalek’s triumph marked their first Super Cup title since 2020, further intensifying the rivalry between Egypt's two football giants.

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