TANGIER, Morocco— Egyptian giants Al-Ahly finished preparations in readiness for their tough clash against American Seattle Sounders club on Saturday at the Grand Stade de Tanger in Morocco in the second round of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) at 7:30pm Cairo Local Time.
The victor will advance to face European champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
The Red Devils will be setting their sights high and is hoping to break new ground at the tournament, having finished third on three occasions.
Home favourites Wydad Casablanca tackle Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in their second round tie also on Saturday. The winner in that fixture will meet Brazilian outfit Flamengo in the semi-finals.
While Ahly hold plenty of experience in the competition, Seattle is making their Club World Cup debut, and the American club’s goalkeeper, Stefan Frei, said they are fully focused on the Egyptians despite the tantalising prospect of facing Real Madrid.
“We definitely don’t look past Al-Ahly,” goalkeeper Frei said according to Reuters. “They are a very experienced team in this tournament, but if we do find ourselves moving forward, it would be incredible.
“For an MLS team to have the opportunity to play against arguably the best team in the world for something meaningful is a privilege, it’s an honour.
“We sense that and we want to win against Al-Ahly so that we can showcase our skill against such a huge opponent,” Frei added.
“They are very dangerous on the counter,” defender Alex Roldan noted. “They like to whip in a lot of crosses. We definitely need to be strong on the back line and make sure we don’t give up anything easily.”
The six continental champions, plus the champions of the host country participate. In the case of Morocco, their champions Wydad Casablanca are also African champions, so last season’s African Champions League runners-up Al-Ahly of Egypt are also in the field.
Managed by former Switzerland international Marcel Koller, the Cairo club is bidding to go one better than the previous two seasons at the Club World Cup in which they finished in third place after beating Palmeiras and Al-Hilal respectively to claim the bronze medal.
Al-Ahly, who qualifies as one of two African representatives, has won bronze at the FIFA Club World Cup on three occasions – 2006, 2020 and 2021.
Al-Ahly has made a strong start to the 2022-23 campaign since it began in mid-October, winning 16 games and drawing four of their 20 matches across all competitions.
The 42-time Egyptian top-flight champions currently sit six points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, and they head into Saturday’s contest having not conceded a league goal for over seven hours since the turn of the year.
Ahly kicked off their quest with a 3-0 win over Auckland City. The Kiwitea Street minnows did themselves proud, but goals from winger Hussein el-Shahat, striker Mohamed Sherif and winger Percy Tau booked the Cairo colossuses a clash with Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
“I’d like to thank my team-mates for helping me write history with this achievement,” El-Shahat told FIFA.com after the victory over Auckland.
“I want to score in the next match and the one after that, and to make Al Ahly’s great fans happy.
“What’s the secret behind my Club World Cup success? My mother, wife, children and siblings all stood behind me and prayed for me. That’s the secret to my success,” the 30-year-old Egypt winger added.
“As players, we talked about the possibility of reaching the final. Why not? Our aim is to win the title this time. Hopefully luck will be on our side, as we’ve performed better every time we’ve played at this tournament.”
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