Despite starting off their Africa Football League (AFL) campaign away from home, Al Ahly head coach Marcel Koller says he is not interested in sitting back for a draw, promising his side to attack from the first whistle.
Ahly faces Tanzania’s Simba at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Friday evening, in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
Swiss coach, Koller says his team has prepared well to give a good performance and take to Cairo a comfortable lead to make matters easier for them in the return leg.
“Defending is not my philosophy,” Koller said during the game’s pre-match press conference.
“For us, we must play. We don’t have to waste time or simulate injuries. I always speak with my players and I tell them that always, we must play.”
The coach says the duel against Simba will be difficult, but reiterates his side’s confidence is sky high for a win away from home.
“We know we have a difficult team against us. Every team in Africa, when they play Ahly, always double their efforts and have a lot of motivation to beat us. We will be fully concentrated and look to play a good game to win and make it easier for the second leg in Cairo,” the coach said.
Ahly’s last two visits to Tanzania, both coming in the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, have ended in similar 1-0 defeats, but that piece of history is not important in Koller’s pre-match notes to his players.
His ambition is to wire down a clean record for his side and pick a win on the otherwise tough hunting ground that is Dar es Salaam.
“I have been here for one year now and what happened in the past is history. We cannot change that but what we can change is what happens in the future. We will do our best to take a good result from the match and we are looking forward to a good game and to do our best to change history,” Koller said.
Ahly have had a good start to the season, qualifying for the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League with a healthy 7-0 aggregate victory over Ethiopia’s Saint George.
They have also won back to back matches in the Egyptian Premier League. In four matches, they have only conceded once.