Basel's Mohamed Elneny, left, and Liverpool's Joe Allen battle for the ball during the Champions League Group B soccer match between Liverpool and FC Basel (Photo: AP)
Egyptian midfielder Mohamed El-Nenny is proud of his role in his Swiss club FC Basel reaching the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Basel secured a 1-1 draw against five-time champions, Liverpool thanks to Fabian Freis goal in the 25th minute . Steven Gerrard's latest minute equalizer didn't give the English side the salvation they had hoped for as Real Madrid and Basel both qualified from Group B.
"Thank God for yesterday's qualification. I am very proud for everything happened yesterday," El-Nenny stated in Arabic through his Twitter account on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old has received tens of congratulating comments from his fans across the globe and used his account to thank supporters.
El-Nenny's Egyptian teammate, Ahmed Hamoudi also appeared at Anfield helping Basel to earn their first knockout stage ticket since the 2011-12 season.
They are the runner-ups of Group B with seven points, nine behind the Spanish leaders and two before third-placed Liverpool.
"It was hard, the last 10 minutes," said Basel coach Paulo Sousa, adding that qualification will go down in "the history of this special club."
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