Ismaily elimination aftermath

CAIRO (GoPharaohs.com) - In a statement to the press after Ismaily’s loss to CA Bordj in the Arab Champions League, Dutch head coach Marc Wotte indicated that the primary factor in his team’s loss on Sunday was the Egyptian Football Association.

Wotte claimed that EFA officials refused to postpone Ismaily’s league matchup against Suez Cement which was scheduled immediatly after the team’s return from Algeria in the first leg match against CA Bordj. The second leg match was scheduled to be played only 72 hours later not giving the players enough time to recuperate.

Wotte also accused the EFA of uneven treatement of Egyptian teams pointing to the fact that Al-Ahly is allowed ample time to prepare for their matches. Al-Ahly has had several league matches postponed in preparation for their last few African Champions League games leading to the final.

The fans have their say

[Ismaily] are earning a reputation for disappearing at the big games as they already lost to zamalek on their home field so I am skeptical of ismaily’s performance lately…the loss in the arab champions league doesnt help their cause whatsoever. - mvp1ne

Although I think Ismaily could have done better with a chance to rest a regroup (apparently it looks like a certain Mr Rizk from the club admin has signed off on playing the Suez Cement game earlier)- but the main issue for me is that the team have issues executing the crucial bit in the box, whether it’s the final pass or the actual shot on goal, it was very evident in the Suez Cement game despite placing 5 CFs near the end of the game. - Walid Darwish

This result is significant that a team that is 2nd in the Egyptian league is eliminated by a team in the bottom of the Algerian league. This is a clear warnig sign of how uncompetitive the Egyptian league has become: This season (like the previous few) is a one team race. - basem

So, they take 3 days to arrive back from an international game “next door”, their officials accept the schedule of the game (as the papers reported today) [and] they play a very bad game. Then they blame it on the EFA, Ahly, the referee, and the exhaustion? EFA started delaying games for Ahly when we reached the semis and final of the top competiiton in the region, not the 16th round of some mickey mouse tournament. And oh, it took [Al-Ahly] 1 night to come back from Tunisia, but what were they doing for 3 days after the game.. in transit? - Masry Ahlawy

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