Al Ahly boss admits need for homework

TOYOTA - Agence France-Presse

Aboutrika (R) and Ahmed Fathi celebrate after a goal against Sanfrecce. REUTERS photo

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

The Egyptian outfit will play the Copa Libertadores winners tomorrow after a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Japanese city of Toyota on Dec. 9.

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 tomorrow’s encounter.

“The 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.”

Corinthians, who will be playing its first match in the cup, and Al Ahly will battle for the right to face either European champion Chelsea or Mexican Monterrey in the final on Dec. 16.