Pitso Mosimane, Al Ahly head coach, spoke after our 1-0 victory over Tunisia’s Esperance on Saturday in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-finals.

“It is always tough to play against teams like Esperance but we respected them and their coaching staff and this respect was shown in our performance tonight.”

“It is normal for Esperance to have an attacking game as they were playing at home in front of their fans. They wanted to achieve a positive result, but we were well-organized and managed to achieve an important victory. However, we still need to secure our qualification in the second leg.”

“Afsha was not fully fit, as he was injured against RS Berkane in the CAF Super League. He joined the game when Esperance started to pressure and we needed to change our playing strategy.”

Mosimane also mentioned the riots which erupted between Esperance fans and the Tunisian police before the start of the game.

“We understand these things, and they do happen, but Al Ahly and Esperance have the experience needed to deal with these situations. We had an obligation towards our players as we have to keep them calm because they are the ones who will play.”

“The most difficult thing is that we had a plan for the match, and then everything went down. El Shenawy, Saad, and Captain Sayed kept the team’s spirit up and told the players that we must not lose concentration. It is not all about me.”

“For me, I am not chasing glory and records. You must focus on the process and Al Ahly is a big team. There are big coaches who have done more than me with the club like Manuel Jose.”

“Al Ahly’s character was present in the game and our players managed to achieve the victory tonight.”