Al Ahly boss admits need for homework

10 December 2012 04:46

The coach of African champions Al Ahly, Hossam El-Badry, admits he has to do his homework on Corinthians before his side's semi-final against the Brazilian giants in the Club World Cup.

The Egyptian outfit will play the Copa Libertadores winners on Wednesday after a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Japanese city of Toyota on Sunday.

Goals from Elsayed Hamdi and Mohamed Aboutrika were enough to see the Cairo club progress to the last four and Badry said only now would he turn his attention to Wednesday's encounter.

"Today's performance was really good so now I would like to focus on the next match," he said following the win in snowy conditions.

"I haven't really had the time to study Corinthians well. So that's the first thing I need to do. I know it's a big team, a strong team but I have DVDs. I will study them from today, to do my homework."

Al Ahly, wearing black armbands in memory of fans who died in the Port Said stadium disaster in February, went ahead after 15 minutes before Hiroshima levelled. Substitute Aboutrika scored the decisive goal early in the second half.

Corinthians, who will be playing their first match of the competition, and Al Ahly will battle for the right to face either European champions Chelsea or Mexican side Monterrey in the final in Yokohama on Sunday.

Source: AFP