Under fire Al Ahly coach pleads with Sundowns to play fair…
Under fire Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller has pleaded with Mamelodi Sundowns to play the next two CAF Champions League games “fairly”.
Koller fears that if Sundowns don’t play to their full strength Al Hilal will go through the knockout phase, automatically eliminating Al Ahly.
This comes after Bafana Ba Style humiliated the North African side with a 5-2 defeat at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday, 11 March 2023.
A brace from Peter Shalulile and goals from Marcelo Allende, Themba Zwane and Teboho Mokoena were enough to earn the red-hot Brazilians a win.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Sherif and Percy Tau scored the consolation goals for the Egyptian giants.
Coach Koller also admitted that the DStv Premiership defending champions were the better side and took their home advantage to beat them.
The Swiss tactician said his side did not look up to the challenge, especially in the first half, with Masandawana breaking down the Red Devils’ defence.
Al Ahly captain Mohamed El Shenawy and his mentor were confident they would register their first win against Sundowns in South Africa. However, things did not go as expected, with history repeating itself.
MARCEL KOLLER’S PLEA TO MAMELODI SUNDOWNS
“I hope that Sundowns will play the next two games fair enough [to their full strength] as we know them,” Koller told the media in a post-match interview.
“This trainer [Coach Rulani Mokwena] can go a long way. They can go far [because] the coach prepared them well. If they concentrate, they will go far in this competition.
“We wanted to take a risk to get back into the game, but Sundowns took advantage, and they beat us.
“Sundowns played well in the first half. We played better in the second half.”
AL AHLY’S RECORD PLAYING IN SOUTH AFRICA
Overall, the Egyptian powerhouse has played 14 games in South Africa. In the process, Al Ahly has never tasted a win against any team they played with in the country.
From those 14 games, they registered nine draws and six defeats.
2023 5-2 Sundowns
2022 0-1 Sundowns
2021 1-1 Sundowns
2020 1-1 Sundowns
2019 0-5 Sundowns
2017 0-0 Bidvest Wits
2015 0-1 Orlando Pirates
2013 1-1 Orlando Pirates
2013 0-0 Orlando Pirates
2011 0-1 SuperSport United
2008 1-2 Platinum Stars
2007 2-2 Sundowns
2005 0-0 Ajax Cape Town
2001 1-1 Sundowns
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