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| Pirates v Al Ahly |
The Stars of Africa academy owner, ex-Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach and respected TV analyst Khan cautioned Bucs and coach Roger de Sa ahead of the second leg, following Saturday night's last-gasp 1-1 draw at Orlando Stadium.
Bucs beat al-Ahly 3-0 in El Gouna, then drew 0-0 at home in the group stages.
"Remember, psychologically, the al-Ahly players have gone through hell with the situation in their country," said Khan.
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"I spoke to a lot of them when they came here. Some have been threatened with arrest because they were sympathetic to the former president.
"Family members have been involved, some have lost family members. We sit here and don't think how important that has been. Still, it's also made them stronger."
Khan said al-Ahly's rebuilding phase, after having won four Champions League titles from 2005, had affected the way Mohamed Youssef's team approach games.
"I really admire how al-Ahly have set themselves up. On Saturday they were happy for Pirates to come at them. They packed their defence, and it was up to Pirates to unlock it. Al-Ahly were comfortable with those aerial balls and crosses.
"I was impressed with their use of space and time. It's almost telepathy; player A knows where player B is going to be, so the third man moves on his own into the space. They have the capacity to beat Pirates.
"South African teams play the ball to the feet. We don't have that level of playing into spaces and thinking ahead."
Al-Ahly, no longer as dominant as they once were, came to Orlando and almost invited Bucs to dominate, and achieved the result they wanted. It was an approach that saw them top the tournament Group A.
"That is the challenge for Pirates. Do they have the capacity to overcome the wall that al-Ahly will put up in Cairo?
"People say al-Ahly will play an open game. They will, but not for 90 minutes. They'll still defend as a compact unit and play on the break."
Al-Ahly's approach is something Bucs might want to learn from. If they attack freely, the Egyptians will be looking for opportunities on the break.
"If Pirates utilise Daine Klate and Tlou Segolela effectively, and have maybe Collins Mbesuma and Lennox Bacela as twin strikers, that could be an antidote to their lack of goals," Khan said.
"The best thing for Pirates is to have more width. Get behind al-Ahly, have cutbacks and low, hard shots. They showed this can trouble al-Ahly, but they didn't do it often enough."
Source : bdlive.co.za
Tags : psl,pirates, al ahly ,final ,caf championship
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