Al-Ahly and Al-Rajaa .. “Super” dialogue with the “taste” of the Arab Cup

Al-Ahly of Egypt is looking to confirm its dominance of the African Football Super Cup when it faces Morocco's Raja Casablanca tomorrow at Ahmed Ben Ali Stadium in Doha in its thirtieth edition. The Cairo team will play the match, which will be held for the fourth time in Doha, according to an agreement concluded between the Confederations of Africa and Qatar, as a champion of the Champions League in the last edition, which it won at the expense of the South African Kaizer Chiefs 3-0, while the Moroccan team entered it as a champion of the Federation Cup, which was crowned on the Algerian JS Kabylie account 2-1.

Al-Ahly is looking to confirm its dominance over the competition in which he scored the tenth appearance, where he was crowned seven times in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014, and the last version that was held last May at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha at the expense of Morocco’s Berkane Renaissance 2-0, while Raja hopes to achieve His third title after being crowned champion in 2000 at the expense of Africa Sport Ivory Coast 2-0 and 2019 at the expense of Tunisian Esperance 2-1 at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha also.

The two teams regained their international stars after participating with their countries' teams in the tenth edition of the Arab Cup, which ended on Saturday with Algeria crowning its title.

Mohamed El-Shennawy, Akram Tawfiq, Ayman Ashraf, Hamdi Fathi, Amr Al-Sulayya, Mohamed Magdy Afsha and Mohamed Sharif joined Al-Ahly camp from Doha after losing to the Qatari team on penalties 4-5 after a negative tie in the original and extra time in the match to determine the third and fourth places, In addition to his Moroccan international defender Badr Banoun, who was bid farewell to the Arab competition from the quarter-finals by Algeria on penalties as well (3-5, normal and net time 2-2).

On the other hand, the international trio of Anas Al-Zeniti, Abdelilah Al-Hafezi and Mohamed Al-Nuhairi joined the Raja camp in Doha, after they had organized since the Arab Cup’s exit training with Qatar Club, which is supervised by their compatriot, the former international player of Raja Casablanca, Youssef Sefri.

 “We do not fear Al-Ahly,”

Belgian Raja Casablanca coach Marc Wilmots admitted during a press statement after arriving in Doha, with the difficulty of the task, but he stressed, “We do not fear Al-Ahly.

"This type of confrontation is controlled by small details, we will try to avoid pressures and maintain calm and focus to achieve our goal," added the coach, who took over the task in place of Tunisian Assaad Chebbi last month and played with his new team only 3 matches in the local league.

The official website of the Raja Club published a motivational statistic for its players, which highlighted the superiority of the Oval team, which defeated its opponent twice out of six direct confrontations that brought the two sides together on a continental basis, compared to one victory for Al-Ahly and three draws.

The two teams met twice in the Arab world and Al-Ahly ally won 3-1 in the final of the Arab Clubs Championship in 1996 and 2-0 in the group stage of the Elite Championship in 1997.

The Egyptian clubs have an advantage in their confrontations with their Moroccan counterparts in the Super Cup, where Zamalek defeated Wydad Casablanca 3-1 In 2003, Al-Ahly defeated the Royal Army on penalties in 2006 and Nahdet Berkane in the last edition.

“The motives are great,”

Al-Ahly’s general coach, Sami Komsan, confirmed in an interview with his club’s media center, “The Super Cup is an important competition, and we have great motives to win it. Tao and Mozambican Luis Miccesoni.

Regarding the new deals, he said, "They constitute a great addition in all lines, especially after their harmony with the group. We are a large team that participates in many tournaments, and therefore we need an abundance of distinguished players."

South African coach Pitso Mosimane's team seeks to avoid the scenario of losing it twice in the Super before, as it fell in 1994 against its traditional rivals Zamalek 0-1, and in 2015 against ES Setif Algeria on penalties.

And his defense pole, Bannon, is the only one who won the Super title in the shirt of the two teams, as he contributed to the coronation of Raja in the 2019 edition when he scored a goal against Esperance, before he was crowned with Al-Ahly last season.

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