Doha (AFP)
Among the many Egyptians from Qatar who support Al-Ahly's team, it is the start of the fight before the kick-off of the Club World Cup and the first match of their favorite team Thursday (6.30 p.m.) in Doha against the champion of Qatar Al Duhail.
Al-Ahly's presence in Doha inspired Ahmad Salam, a 31-year-old Egyptian, health worker in Qatar, a little poem: "A great man from Africa has landed in Doha and the defeat is prohibited ".
This early supporter refers to the record of Al-Ahly, or the "Red Citadel" as his supporters like to call him, which has won nine times the prestigious CAF Champions League, the queen of football competition African.
Dalia, 6, is also a staunch fan of Al-Ahly: she wears the Egyptian club jersey as pajamas and resumes at the top of her voice the chants of the Cairo club ultras.
His father Hossam Abou Al-Alaa, a lawyer, chairs the Al-Ahly fan club in Qatar which claims 61,000 members.
His home in Al-Wakra (30 km south of Doha) has turned into a beehive, which is activated 24 hours a day to encourage Al-Ahly, who is participating for the sixth time in the World Club, an event organized by the International Football Federation (Fifa) which brings together the champions of the six confederations that make up Fifa, plus the champion of the organizing country.
The supporters of the Egyptian club have pledged to strictly respect the restrictions linked to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
- "Final before the final" -
Ahmed Mahrous Abdel Aziz, a 36-year-old Egyptian nurse, volunteered to educate supporters of his club on health measures.
The 40,000-seat stadium where the match will take place will only be used at 30% of its capacity and spectators will have to respect social distancing rules and wear a mask.
The supporters of the Egyptian club dream of seeing him equal his best result in the competition, a 3rd place acquired in 2006.
But Tarek Khalil, a former Al-Ahly player, is realistic and presents the match against Al Duhail as a "final before the final".
The winner will then be opposed to Bayern Munich, winner of the last Champions League and big favorite of this Club World Cup.
The other meeting scheduled for Thursday will oppose (3:00 p.m.) the Mexican club of the Tigers, with the French André-Pierre Gignac, to the South Korean team of Ulsan.
Neither team can count on the support that Al-Ahly enjoys.
There are thus only twenty supporters of the Tigers who are recruited from expatriates living in Qatar.
In Doha, the atmosphere is particularly calm, compared to the previous edition, when thousands of Liverpool and Flamengo supporters invaded the city and tourist sites.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Sunday and Monday with respectively as favorites the Brazilians of Palmeiras, who have just won the Copa Libertadores on Saturday, and Bayern Munich.
© 2021 AFP