Al-Ahly always complain about everything

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena got here out swinging forward of the second leg of their semifinal encounter towards Al-Ahly within the African Football League.

His Ahly counterpart Marcel Koller landed the primary jab after the 1-0 loss to the Brazilians. He instructed that the match officers denied them a transparent penalty when Ronwen Williams appeared to have made contact with Percy Tau late within the sport.

Like a boxer that calculates his strikes, Mokwena got here out of out his nook in a bullish temper when he addressed the media in Cairo on Wednesday afternoon. 

Two heavyweights of African soccer have been separated by Thapelo Maseko’s solitary purpose at Loftus Versfeld final Sunday. Mokwena didn’t take kindly to questions on whether or not the referee aided their course to achieve the inaugural AFL closing.

“I’m surprised that Al-Ahly always complain about everything. Before the first leg, they complained that we played at 3 pm,” Mokwena stated to the packed media gallery in Cairo.

“And but they’re allowed to fixture the sport within the second leg within the time that fits them and also you hear no complaints from Mamelodi Sundowns.

“I’m stunned that Al-Ahly are always complaining about referees solely after they lose. José Mourinho stated that when a giant membership begins to have a look at different elements aside from soccer as soon as they lose, they begin to lose their standing as a giant membership.

“I hope that’s not the case with Al-Ahly because they are the flagship of African football. The rest of the world and Europe look at Ahly as a reflection of what African football represents. So my question after the complaints is what is the intention because I can go through a list of incidents where referees did not act in what I thought would be right.”

The closing uppercut

Mokwena wasn’t carried out but, he went for the uppercut as he learn out the match statistics from the primary match virtually like a hoop announcer after a boxing battle studying the scorecards. 

“A game of football according to FIFA which governs football globally is that of fair play. It says you can lose, win or draw,” stated Mokwena who highlighted how the North Africans have been second-best in Tshwane. 

“And once you lose, you present good sportsmanship and also you shake arms, particularly if the opponent was higher than you. So let’s go to the information, Mamelodi Sundowns had 67% ball possession and Al-Ahly solely had 33% ball possession.

“(Sundowns had) 89% pass completion from 639 passes completed, double the amount of Ahly’s 340 passes. We had 15 shots at goal and only three for Ahly. When an opponent is better than you, shake hands and show good sportsmanship.”