Mohamed El Shenawy: Sundowns have quality players but Al Ahly is the biggest club
- Hossam Ahmed
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Al Ahly goalkeeper and captain Mohamed El Shenawy said his team is no stranger to playing in South Africa and the players are well-prepared to take on Mamelodi Sundowns.
Al Ahly will visit South African side Sundowns in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final, scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 PM GMT.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, as quoted by Al Ahly’s official website, El Shenawy said:
“The match will definitely be difficult against a strong team like Sundowns. We know them well. We have two matches, in Pretoria and in Cairo and our focus is on delivering our best performance in tomorrow’s game and achieving a positive result.”
“The players are determined to write a new chapter in the club’s history and win the title for the third time in a row. We have studied Sundowns well and we are fully focused on tomorrow’s first leg.”
El Shenawy emphasized: "Al Ahly is a great club with 12 continental titles, making it the second-most successful club in the world in terms of international trophies. We respect all our opponents. We have great motivation to achieve a new milestone. There is no psychological barrier when facing any team. All clubs know very well how difficult it is to face Al Ahly at any time, and what matters most to us as players is winning titles.”
He concluded:
“All teams are developing and showing different performances. Sundowns have succeeded in adding quality players and holding external camps, which is one of the reasons behind their strong results in recent years. But Al Ahly is the biggest club, always competing, having reached the final five times recently. We aim to reach the final for the sixth time and win the Champions League title for the third consecutive season.”