Former Al Ahly assistant coach Cavin Johnson believes the current crop of the Cairo club’s players has what it takes to rewrite the history books.
Ahly progressed to their third successive final after beating Algeria’s ES Setif 6-2 on aggregate and Johnson believes they are on course to carve their names in the history books with a third successive Caf Champions League title.
The Red Devils will face Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca in the final set for May 30. The 64-year-old, who spent 11 months at the Cairo club, is convinced they can go all the way to the winners’ podium.
“They have a very strong generation of players there, that’s the good thing about Ahly,” Johnson told FARPost.
“The success of this team has been because of the great recruitment system. The new generation players are able to maintain and elevate the standard of the previous generation. The [Mohamed] Aboutrika generation set high standards and won trophies. They also dominated domestic and continental competitions.
“The El Shanawi generation have maintained the same standard under the mentorship of coach Pitso Mosimane.”
He said Ahly’s success bordered on a well structured club in which everyone involved contributed immensely to the success.
“[Pitso’s excellence as a coach] It touches on it, but when you understand the kind of conglomerate that Al Ahly is, and just like I said everybody is involved. He’s part of the success and he’s not the success. I’m not saying this in any form of disrespect,” he said.
Mosimane could become the first coach to win three consecutive Champions League. In each of his first two seasons with the club, he has won the continental title, which he first lifted with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016.
Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau is also in line to make history, becoming the first South African footballer to win the prestigious continental competition twice. Tau has been in phenomenal form in the semifinals of the competition, scoring a brace and providing six assists.
