Ahly's Malick Evouna (Photo: Al-Ahram)
After Ahly's goalless draw with Morocco's Wydad in the CAF Champions League on Saturday, the team's Dutch coach revealed that the team are suffering from the departure of Gabonese striker Malick Evouna, while Wydad's coach also said he regretted selling the star.
"The difference between the current season and the previous one is that the team didn't have Evouna in the squad," Jol told the post-match press conference.
Evouna joined Ahly from Wydad Casablanca of Morocco last summer in a record transfer deal that totaled $2.5 million, the most expensive in Egyptian football history, but the Red Devils then sold him on again to Chinese side Tianjin Teda for a mega fee of $8 million.
The 23-year-old flew to China on Saturday to complete his move to Tianjin Teda in a three-and-a-half-year deal.
Ahly's African Champions League hopes look to be effectively over after they failed to grab their first Group A victory, with a resolute Wydad Casablanca side retaining their position on top after holding the Egyptian champions to a 0-0 draw in Alexandria on Saturday.
"We were affected by the absence of Malick Evouna during the previous games," Jol said.
Ahly, who won the last of their record eight Champions League titles in 2013, are at the bottom of Group A of the CAF Champions League with a solitary point. Wydad top the group with seven points, followed by Zambia's Zesco United on six and Ivory Coast's ASEC Mimosas on three.
Meanwhile, Wydad's Welsh coach John Toshack also commented on Evouna, saying the Moroccan side was wrong when they sold the Gabonese star to Ahly.
"We also suffer from Evouna's leave," Toshack told the press conference.
"Evouna's leave affected the team as he scored 16 goals with Wydad last season."
"We were wrong when we sold him to Ahly who are repeating the same mistake when they sold him to a Chinese team," the Wydad coach added.
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