Egypt's Ahly's coach Hossam Al Badry (Photo: Reuters)
Ahly manager Hossam El-Badry has expressed satisfaction with his team's performance in their 1-0 defeat to Corinthians in the semifinal of the Club World Cup.
“I am proud of my players. They really delivered a good performance in a difficult match,” El-Badry told reporters after the final whistle in the Toyota Stadium, Japan.
The African Champions struggled in vain to find the equaliser after Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero scored after 30 minutes.
“We were forced to play a zonal defensive system in the first half. The Brazilian team was really powerful but we hadn’t enough luck to score. The result doesn’t express the match,” the 52-year-old coach added.
“The injury to [goalkeeper] Sherif Ekrami forced us to waste a substitute. We were obviously threatening their defence from the centre and the wings and we are satisfied with our performance,” he insisted.
El-Badry also commented on the absence of central midfielder Hossam Ghaly due to a ruptured anterior knee ligament.
“Of course, the absence of Hossam Ghaly affected the team, especially upfront, but at the same time I congratulate Ramy Rabei [defender] on how he played in a new position.
“On the other hand, I have to say the referee wasn’t so good.”
The Cairo-giants, who qualified for the tournament after snatching the African Champions League trophy from Esperance of Tunisia, will face the loser of Monterrey of Mexico versus Chelsea of England in the third-place play-off.
Corinthian coach Tite told reporters they were expecting a hard match.
"We had huge responsibility on us to win and mentally we were under a lot of pressure." he said.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)
Short link: