JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Al-Ahly winger Taher Mohamed has urged his teammates to use their “very painful” semi-final defeat to take home bronze at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup on Friday.
The African champions, chasing a first final appearance in their history, was beaten 2-0 by Brazil’s Fluminense in a gripping last-four encounter in Jeddah Monday night.
Participating in the Club World Cup for a ninth time, the Egyptian giants spurned numerous chances in the match at King Abdullah Sports City and was eventually outdone by Jhon Arias’ 71st-minute penalty and John Kennedy’s strike one minute from time.
In losing, Ahly missed out on the final for a fourth successive year. The Egyptian club now faces in Friday’s play-off the winners of other semi-final between Manchester City and Urawa Red Diamonds.
Speaking immediately after the Fluminense defeat, Mohamed told The National: “It’s very painful but this is football; you give everything on the pitch – that’s what we did today – but we just didn’t score in the first half.
“We had really good chances; we could have scored one or two goals at least. If we scored in the first half, the game would have completely changed.”
“We don’t want to leave here empty handed. We want to go home with a medal.”
The African champions started brightly but were ultimately outdone by the Brazilian outfit, who advance to face either Urawa Reds or Manchester City in Friday’s showpiece finale.
Al Ahly talisman Percy Tau spurned an early opening when veteran defender Felipe Melo made a crucial last-ditch sliding tackle.
Ten minutes before half-time Fabio made an excellent, one-handed save from a Kahraba header.
Tau was then involved in the game’s pivotal moment, bringing down Marcelo in the box with a clumsy foul. Jhon Arias converted the penalty to give Flu a 71st-minute lead.
The Red Devils almost responded instantly when Tau met a low cross but lacked power on his close-range effort.
Yet there was to be no dramatic Ahly comeback as substitute John Kennedy curled home Fluminense’s second goal late on to seal victory.
While Al-Ahly’s decorated veterans failed to seize their opportunity on the global stage, Fluminense’s emerging talents punished them ruthlessly.
The newly-crowned South American champions now stand one win away from completing a fairytale story in Friday’s Club World Cup finale.
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