Problems mount for African champs Ahly

Depressed stars, a suspended coach and an empty stadium are problems facing CAF Champions League title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt this weekend.

The Cairo 'Red Devils' meet Cameroonian visitors Coton Sport in the second leg of a semifinal having drawn 1-1 away two weeks ago.

But what seemed like a routine assignment for the record seven-time African champions took a dramatic negative turn this week.

Ahly supplied eight of the Egypt side humiliated 6-1 by Ghana in a World Cup play-off, all but ending hopes of a place at the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Realising his dream of competing at a World Cup had been dashed a final time, veteran midfielder Mohamed Abou Trika said he would retire when the Champions League campaign finishes.

And it would be no surprise if 38-year-old defensive marshal Wael Gomaa followed suit after being reduced to a helpless bystander as Ghana ran riot.

Goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy conceded four of the goals before retiring with a knee injury that could keep him out of the Coton fixture.

The state of the other five Ahly starters in Kumasi – Hossam Ashour, Ahmed Fathy, Mohamed Naguib, Ahmed Shedid, Walid Soliman – must concern coach Mohamed Youssef.

"Ahly have to be humble against Coton," he warned. "Nothing is impossible in football and the Cameroonians still have an opportunity to reach the final."

A former Ahly defender, Youssef must watch the match from the stand at the 12 000-seat El-Gouna Stadium in a Red Sea resort 450 kilometres north of Cairo.

He was banned from the touchline for one match after being red-carded during the first leg in Garoua for showing dissent to the match officials.

A further blow to Ahly will be a lack of support as they serve the second half of a two-match crowd ban over fighting between their supporters.

With no rivals to vent their anger against before a group game, Ahly fans fought each other, forcing police to use tear gas before restoring order.

It was so different the last time Coton visited Egypt, losing 2-0 to Ahly in the first leg of the 2008 final before a capacity 73 000 Cairo Stadium crowd.

The central Africans hope six-goal leading scorer Alexis Kada can rediscover the finishing touch that has deserted him in recent outings.

Ahly edged long-time rivals Esperance of Tunisia to win the premier African club competition last year, surprisingly winning 2-1 away after a 1-1 first-leg stalemate.

And should they conquer Coton, Esperance may well be the final opponents again as they host Orlando Pirates having forced a 0-0 draw in South Africa.

"I expect to meet Ahly in the final once more," Esperance coach Maher Kanzari told a Tunisian radio station ahead of the second leg at Stade Olympique in a Tunis suburb.

But Pirates coach Roger de Sa countered: "A win at home would have been a better result, but my main priority was not to concede a goal.

"This enables us to take on Esperance with a fighting chance of reaching the final, given any goal we score counts double should the game be drawn."

Another tight tussle is likely with Esperance shot-stopper Moez Ben Cherifia keeping clean sheets in four of five CAF home games this season.

Having struck seven goals in African games against Ahly and fellow Egyptians Zamalek, Pirates managed just one in their last four Champions League outings.

De Sa satisfied with goalless draw

Orlando Pirates coach Roger de Sa says he is satisfied with the goalless draw in the dramatic first-leg Caf Champions League semifinal against Tunisia's Esperance at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.

"Naturally a win would have been a better result, but my main priority from this match was not to concede a goal," said De Sa.

"This enables us to go to Tunisia for the second leg in two weeks time with a fighting chance of reaching the final in view of the away goal rule applying when two teams finish on level terms.

"Esperance might now have the advantage of playing at home, but they will do so with the knowledge that a 1-1 or 2-2 draw or any other drawn game with goals scored will result in their elimination from the tournament."

De Sa also dismissed the assessment that Esperance were not the invincible force that they had been touted before the game.

"On the contrary, they are a highly professional outfit and proved this with a methodical exhibition throughout the 90 minutes in what was a testing away encounter for them," said De Sa.

This is no half-baked outfit we are up against and we will have to be at our best, if not reaching new heights when we play Esperance in Tunisia because their standard is not much different from that of many of the professional teams in Europe.

"We will need to pit fire with fire, but I have confidence in my players that they will be able to achieve this."

The importance of the occasion for South African soccer, in particular, ensured an underlying element of intrigue and tension throughout Saturday's game - and De Sa believed the whole country would again be holding thumbs for The Buccaneers in the second leg showdown.

Pirates enjoyed territorial superiority and had more scoring opportunities at Orlando Stadium, but it was the calculated, composed Esperance who achieved their objective and will certainly come away from the no-holds barred encounter for the second-leg with greater satisfaction.

Dutch World Cup legend Ruud Krol, who has coached both these clubs, said before the game that Pirates had the individual skill and Esperance the better technique and temperament.

And so it proved with the ball-weaving Buccaneers often verging on desperation in a bid to break the deadlock, with the yellow-carded Andile Jale and Rooi Mahamutsa coming precariously close to being red-carded for heated arguing with the referee.

"This kind of response could be a disaster in Tunis where the crowd could influence the refereeing decisions," said De Sa.

"It is imperative that we remain cool and play with nerves of steel, no matter what is thrown against us."

Ahly force draw at Coton Sport

Defending champions Al Ahly took a vital away result after finishing 1-1 away to Coton Sport of Cameroon on Sunday in a CAF Champions semifinal first leg replay.

The game was replayed on Sunday in Garoua after it was washed away 24 hours earlier at the same venue after 63 minutes of action.

It was scoreless on Saturday after a heavy storm halted proceedings but that is not how the first half went in which both goals came in the opening 45 minutes.

The game started on a slow and cautious note with little to separate the two sides before it ignited after the half hour mark.

Coton took the lead in the 33rd minute through Ewangue Mbongo who latched onto a long ball down the left before beating Abdul-Fadil to unleash a low strike at the near post under Sherif Ekrami.

A minute later, Ahmed Abdul-Zaher’s header was parried by the keeper Loic Feudjou before a Coton defender eventually cleared it off the line.

Al Ahly equalised dead on 45 minute through Mohamed Aboutreika from point black range to see the two sides go 1-1 into the break.

Coton dominated proceedings after the break that saw defender Boubba Aminou head narrowly wide in the 49th minute and on 52 minutes, Moussa Yedan fired his shot straight into Ekrami's hands.

Aboutreika played no further part in the game after he was taken off in the 63rd minute and replaced by junior international Trezeguet.

A minute later Al Ahly coach Mohamed Yousef was sent off by Zambia referee Jan Sikazwe in unclear circumstances.

Coton Sport piled the pressure and Ekrami had to be at his best in the 72nd minute was called up to collect a long range shot as the defending champions camped into their own area.

However, Al Ahly made a late dash after the 86th minute and two minutes before fulltime Al Sayed Hamdi missed the target with the goal at his mercy as he blasted high.

The two sides meet in the return leg decider in Cairo on October 20.

Igesund wishes Pirates well

Bafana Bafana head coach Gordond Igesund has wished Orlando Pirates well in their CAF Champions League second leg semifinal fixture against Esperance of Tunisia.

The clash will take place on Saturday, 19, October 2013 at the Stade Olympique in Rades, Tunisia.

Pirates leave for the North African country tonight (Wednesday, 16 October).

The two sides played to a goal-less draw in the first leg at the Orlando Stadium on October 5.

Pirates will need to win the match to advance. A scoring draw will also be sufficient to see Pirates to the final where they will face either Al Ahly of Egypt or Cotonsport of Cameroon. The two are scheduled to play their semifinal second leg on Sunday, 20 October.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish Pirates all the best in their tough encounter against Esperance. To coach Roger de Sa, his technical team and the entire Pirates players, you have shown that you can mix it with the best when you played the first leg. I believe that the whole country is behind you so go out there and make us all proud. We know it is not going to be easy but we have confidence that you will return victorious,” said Igesund.

Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa, the Honourable Fikile Mbalula, visited Pirates at their training camp to also wish them well.

Meanwhile, Gabonese officials will be in charge of the clash between Pirates and Esperance.

Eric Otogo will be the man in the middle, and will be assisted by Theophile Vinga and Jean Engone, while Yves Roponat is the fourth official.

Hodgson remains humble after win

Having successfully steered England to next year's World Cup, one of manager Roy Hodgson's biggest tasks will be to manage expectations during the eight-month period until the tournament begins.

As the country that gave birth to the modern game and won the World Cup in 1966, England considers itself one of international football's heavyweights, but in recent times, success has proved elusive.

Not since 1996 have the national team reached the semifinals of a major tournament and not since 1990 have they graced the last four at a World Cup.

The intervening years have brought nothing but false dawns and painful failures.

Typically, England's players arrive at a tournament expressing bullish optimism about reaching the final, only to limp through the group phase and then fall at the first sizeable hurdle in the knockout rounds.

Their record is far from dismal, but a squad containing Champions League winners in the form of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill is equipped for far better.

Although England have only lost once over 90 minutes during Hodgson's 22-match tenure, the only sides currently in the top 25 in the Fifa ranking that they have beaten in competitive matches since 2006 are Russia, Croatia, Switzerland and Sweden.

For members of the England set-up, attempting to establish objectives for the World Cup has proved a fool's errand in recent weeks.

Football Association chairman Greg Dyke came in for criticism after claiming it would be fanciful for England to target victory in Brazil, but former England manager Glenn Hoddle was similarly forthright, describing such ambitions as "unrealistic".

Speaking after the 2-0 win over Poland on Tuesday that secured England's passage to Brazil, Hodgson twice ducked opportunities to set objectives for his side.

"It's a bit early to talk about our impact at the tournament," he told one inquisitor. "I'll pass up on that question and use the next six or seven months to reflect upon it."

With Hoddle having been invited by Dyke to join an FA commission set up to examine the misfortunes of the national team, it is against a backdrop of soul-searching that England will prepare themselves for Brazil.

Hodgson must walk a diplomatic tightrope between tempering unreasonable expectations about what his team can hope to achieve and backing his squad to make an impact at the tournament.

He defended his players robustly after they were derided following a 0-0 draw in Ukraine last month and has also rubbished claims that England made heavy weather of qualifying.

Speaking earlier this month, he said: "It depends what attitude you take; whether you take a realistic attitude towards the England national team and where it is today, or whether you live on past glories and say, 'This shouldn't happen.'"

England, according to Hodgson, are in "something of a transitional period", and it is a matter of tactics as much as personnel.

Since being outplayed by Italy in the quarterfinals at Euro 2012, he has insisted on the need for England to improve their ability to conserve possession, occasionally using a new 4-3-3 formation to give his side an extra man in midfield.

However, he changed tack for the trip to Ukraine, admitting afterwards, somewhat incongruously, that he had told his players to play long balls forward because "we didn't want to play out from the back early and invite pressure".

Furthermore, England's best performances of the qualifying campaign –the latest victories over Montenegro and Poland – came after Hodgson abandoned his usual tendency towards caution by selection proactive sides that saw Rooney joined in attack by Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and breakthrough star Andros Townsend.

Hodgson will have further opportunities to hone his tactics next month, with Germany and Australia reportedly lined up for a pair of friendly games, but the battle to balance expectations is only just beginning.

England, Germany set for friendly

England hope to schedule a friendly against old rivals Germany next month as they begin preparations for the 2014 World Cup, the Football Association revealed on Wednesday.

Roy Hodgson's side booked their place in Brazil by beating Poland 2-0 on Tuesday and are planning to tackle Germany at Wembley Stadium on November 19.

Germany, who thrashed England 4-1 when the teams last met in the last 16 of the World Cup in 2010, have also qualified for next year's tournament.

England will play another friendly at Wembley four days earlier, with Australia and Argentina reported to be candidates to provide the opposition in that game.

Asked about negotiations with potential opponents for the November games, Club England managing director Adrian Bevington told the BBC and Al-Jazeera: "We are pretty well advanced.

"I expect to be in a position in the next 24 hours to confirm one of them. I don't think it is any great secret that we are expecting to play Germany in the second of the two games next month.

"That would conclude the 150th anniversary celebrations of the FA, so it would be a great way to end the year.

"We are in talks with non-European opponents at the moment with regards to the first game, which would be on Friday (November 15) or Saturday (November 16). That is still to be confirmed.

"We had been looking to play Uruguay in the first game, but they are now in the (World Cup qualifying) play-offs so we are now speaking with other opponents. We expect to announce that on Thursday."

Bevington also revealed that England hope to play Denmark in a friendly game at Wembley in March next year.

England will play another friendly at Wembley in early June before heading to North America, where they will face the United States in a pre-World Cup warm-up game.

They will then travel to Miami for a training camp, with another friendly to come against an unnamed opponent before they fly to Brazil, where they will be based in Rio de Janeiro.

Roy battles dilemma of youth v experience

England manager Roy Hodgson will face the familiar dilemma of youth versus experience when he comes to selecting his squad for next year's World Cup in Brazil.

Victories in the final two qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland lifted England to the top of Group H and secured a spot in the finals as young Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend grabbed the headlines for his outstanding performances.

The 22-year-old justified Hodgson's gamble on him by scoring on his debut in the 4-1 win over Montenegro and terrorising the Polish defenders with his pacy runs down the right.

But it was the old guard of Wayne Rooney, who turns 28 this month, and 33-year-old captain Steven Gerrard who scored in the 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley on Tuesday.

"At the moment, it's all looking very good. I was delighted that the two goal scorers last night were Rooney and Gerrard... because they have been immense in this campaign," Hodgson told reporters at a London hotel on Wednesday.

"A lot of people have been fantastic but these are two guys who really have had to bear a lot more of the responsibility than some of the other guys and they've really stepped up to the plate and delivered."

CROWNING GLORIES

Hodgson reserved particular praise for Manchester United striker Rooney who finished the qualifiers with seven goals to his name.

"He's done well throughout, although his performances recently have been crowning glories," said Hodgson.

"It's not just been a good performance and a good team performance its also been decisive performances with his goals."

Alongside Townsend, the likes of his Spurs teammate Kyle Walker, Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere and Everton's Ross Barkley have made a mark for their Premier League teams and been banging on the England door.

West Ham's England Under-21 midfielder Ravel Morrison, who scored twice against Lithuania, has also caught the eye of Hodgson and is being touted in the British media as a possible wildcard for the World Cup squad.

"Morrison has burst on to the scene. He interests us, he's a fantastic player," said Hodgson.

"I think it's going to be very interesting to see in the next six months which of the Under-21 players really mount a serious challenge.

But they will have to first dislodge international stalwarts such as midfielder Frank Lampard and left back Ashley Cole, who along with Gerrard have over 300 caps between them.

YOUNG PLAYERS

"We're not going to jettison any players light-heartedly," added Hodgson.

"These players have done extremely well so far for the team and I'll be monitoring them and working with them and we'll see what happens when the time comes.

"It will be a very difficult decision in terms of selection because we've got a lot of good young players to talk about and we've still got the good old guard ready and able to play as well so it's not going to be an easy time that and I'm sure that will give me lots of reason for thought."

No European side has won the World Cup in South America and after England's less than convincing qualifying campaign, Hodgson was keen to avoid the expectation and hyperbole that has plagued the team's appearances at previous championships.

"It's pretty obvious we're not favourites to win the World Cup. We'll do the best we can," he said.

"I'm pleased we're there, I'm pleased we'll be a part of it. I'll worry about whether we can win it later on," he said.

Asked who he thought were contenders to win the tournament, the 66-year-old said: "I would say Brazil and Argentina from South America, from what I know of South American football which isn't a great deal.

"Of the European teams, I'll go along with everyone else - it's Spain and Germany - and I don't know enough about the African and Asian teams to hazard a guess."

Brazil will be Hodgson's second World Cup appearance as a manager after he took unfancied Switzerland to the finals in 1994 for the first time in 28 years.

But even if things had played out differently for Hodgson in his career he may still have been taking people to next year's finals in Brazil.

"When Bobby Houghton and I started off in our late 20s in management we were going to retire at 40, the pair of us and start a travel agency," Hodgson said to amused looks.

"I sometimes think of it now, 26 years after my 40th birthday and wonder what would've become of me if we had actually decided to fulfil our idea."