Pitso Mosimane has opened up on how the Egypt national team players in his Al Ahly squad were affected by their failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Pharaohs were knocked out at the final hurdle in a two-legged play-off by Senegal, just months after losing the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final against the same opposition, with eight Red Devils stars in the most recent squad selected by former head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Akram Tawfik suffered a season-ending ACL injury during AFCON while several others have suffered from physical fatigue but Mosimane says they are professional enough to overcome the
mental disappointment of what occurred on international duty.
“We gave the players rest for two days because they come from those 14 days of disappointments and everything and the best medicine for them to heal is to be with their families so we gave them rest,” Mosimane said.
“But they are professionals, they came from the FIFA Arab Cup, they lost [in the final], we won against Raja Casablanca [in the CAF Super Cup] two days later – they went to the AFCON, they were disappointed, we played the World Cup, Mundial, they adjusted.
“They know it’s their lives, they play big games, they are going to be disappointed but there’s also going to be good things for them. So they are professionals, we don’t need to talk much to them.
They understand.”
Ahly could face Wydad Casablanca, Raja Casablanca or Esperance de Tunis in the next round of Africa’s elite club competition after finishing up as runners-up in Group A behind Mamelodi Sundowns.
