Auckland City v. Al Ahly, 10/12/06

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Al Ahly Made To Work Hard By Competitive Auckland

by Jeremy Ruane

Auckland City were beaten 2-0 by Egyptian champions Al Ahly at the Toyota Stadium in Japan on December 10, but Oceania's champions were far from disgraced in the opening game of the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup Finals.

Having held their African rivals scoreless throughout the first half, City only went behind on the scoreboard during a brief period when they were reduced to ten players through injury, before succumbing to a superb free-kick eighteen minutes from time.

But while the Kiwi combination produced a strong physical and tactical effort, the shortcomings of New Zealand football in general were exposed when it came to the technical aspects of the game.

While the Egyptian professionals were guilty of errant passes at times against their amateur opponents, their ability to string together interchanges of ten passes and more contrasted starkly with City's inability to retain hard-won possession for more than a few seconds, a failing common throughout the game in a country where the emphasis on the physical nature of the game far exceeds that placed on its more skilful aspects.

The Kiwi combination didn't aid their cause at times with some over-zealous challenges, four of which saw referee Khalil Al Ghamdi brandishing the yellow card. While the one afforded Jason Hayne was particularly harsh, a couple of his colleagues were fortunate not to join him in making the official's acquaintance for reasons of persistent infringement.

But cheered on by the bulk of the 29,912 present, the underdogs gave their all against the only club to back up from the 2005 version of this tournament, and it's fair to say the Egyptians, despite enjoying the greater share of possession, were frequently denied the opportunity to make the most of it through the competitive nature of opponents who were punching well above their weight.

Indeed, City had the ball in the net in the eighteenth minute through Keryn Jordan, but the offside flag put paid to that brief moment of excitement for the Kiwi combination, who survived two genuine scares either side of the opportunity.

In just the third minute, Al Ahly prised open the Auckland defence, Emad Moteab slipping Mohammed Abou Tarika past his marker, Chad Coombes. That allowed the playmaker to unleash a shot on the turn from the edge of the penalty area which fizzed narrowly wide of Ross Nicholson's goal.

The goalkeeper easily dealt with a couple of long-range efforts from Flavio Da Silva and Moteab in the next few minutes, before his goal was threatened again in the twentieth minute.

Islam El Shatar played the ball in for Flavio, whose dummy and run-around was rewarded by Moteab's astute pass into his path. The striker shot across the face of goal despite the challenge of Jonathan Perry, who had a splendid game in the heart of City's rearguard action.

As did Paul Seaman, who produced a super tackle on the edge of the penalty area on the half-hour to deny Hossam Ashour, after Moteab and Abou Tarika had paved the way for their team-mate to run at City's back-pedalling rearguard.

Three minutes later, and again a minute before the interval, fouls by Perry and the similarly resolute

Greg Uhlmann invited Abou Tarika to indulge in his free-kick repertoire from positions just outside the penalty area - indeed, in Uhlmann's case, the infringement appeared to take place inside the eighteen-yard box.

The set-piece specialist was denied on both these and another occasion, however, largely a result of poorly executed efforts on his part. The same cannot be said of Uhlmann's jaw-dropping tackle on Moteab in stoppage time, which thwarted the striker in full flight as he surged into the penalty area off the left flank - it was a monster, which left the striker requiring assistance as the teams headed to the dressing rooms at the interval.

City had mustered just one attack of note in the half, in the fortieth minute. Grant Young got the ball on the left and held play up well before playing a one-two with the hard-working Neil Sykes. The striker then fired a cross in towards the near post, a zone into which Seaman was darting, but the midfielder just failed to get on the end of the delivery.

More of the same was hoped for from the Kiwis for the second spell, and inside the first ninety seconds of the match, they had the crowd on their feet. A mistake by Al Ahly captain, Shady Mohammed, in the penalty area saw Young pounce on his blunder. His attempt to pull the ball back for Jordan was well read by Mohammed Sedik, who averted the danger City posed on this occasion.

In the 49th minute, Riki Van Steeden picked up a booking for a desperate lunge on El Shatar - too many of the fouls City committed were for this sort of infringement, when a touch more composure would have reaped far greater rewards. On this occasion, however, the perpetrator suffered through the outcome of his actions, for he picked up an injury in the process.

While Van Steeden was off the pitch receiving treatment, and his replacement, Ben Sigmund, was being prepared, the temporarily numerically challenged team endeavoured to hold out another Al Ahly raid, but this time there was one less body with which to stand firm.

It told, the Egyptians taking the lead in the 51st minute through a cracking strike from Flavio. El Shatar played the ball forward to Moteab, who had Perry on his back as he laid the ball into the path of the Angolan striker. From the edge of the penalty area, Flavio unleashed a scorching drive which arrowed into the top far corner of the net, beyond the flailing fingertips of the diving Nicholson.

1-0 down, City could quite easily have capitulated in the face of opposition who were greatly encouraged by breaking the deadlock, but the amateur combination held firm against their professional rivals, who engineered several attempts to double their advantage.

The first came in the 57th minute, when Abou Tarika held off the challenge of Sigmund to fire in a cross-shot which Nicholson turned round his near post. The goalkeeper then thwarted Shadid Ahmed from the resulting corner.

Two minutes later, Flavio and Moteab contrived to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse, squandering a great chance after central defender Wael Gomaa, who was to become a frequent feature of Al Ahly's attacks as the game wore on, made his presence known for the first time in the match in an attacking sense.

In the 65th minute, the Egyptians produced one of the best moves of the match, a delightful flowing interchange which featured Abou Tarika, Flavio, and a one-two on the edge of the penalty area between Mohammed Shawky and El Shatar, which resulted in the former sending a twenty-yard drive fizzing over the bar - the quality of the move was deserving of a better finish.

Auckland responded with a raid of their own, James Pritchett combining with substitute Jason Hayne to create an opening for another City replacement, former J-League star Teru Iwamoto, for whom the biggest cheer of the night was reserved upon his entry into the fray.

While he didn't trouble Essam El Hadary greatly with this long-range effort, a corner from the Japanese native in the 69th minute saw Al Ahly's goalkeeper make a spectacular flying clearance which set his team off on another raid, one which, like many others, foundered on City's steadfast defensive effort.

Four minutes later, Coombes, who, by and large, muzzled the threat of Abou Tarika well throughout this encounter, committed a foul on the playmaker just outside the penalty area. Nicholson was rendered helpless by Abou Tarika's subsequent free-kick, which arced over the defensive wall and into the far corner of the net - a stunning strike, and one which made it 2-0 to Al Ahly.

After Iwamoto had been denied penalty claims at one end of the park, and another Abou Tarika free-kick had cleared Auckland's crossbar by mere inches at most, Young sent Hayne scampering through in pursuit of a 79th minute pass which left the replacement one-on-one with the advancing El Hadary.

The pair collided as both went for the ball, with referee Al Ghamdi confirming his fully paid up membership of the Goalkeeper's Protection Society by harshly adjudging the City man to have fouled the custodian in a manner deserving of a booking.

Hayne vented his anger in the form of a thirty-yard piledriver two minutes later, the ball hammering the advertising hoardings after Iwamoto's corner had been cleared. The Japanese player was to chance his arm with a last-minute thirty-five yard free-kick, as City kept pressing right to the end.

In between times, their defence was tested once more by Flavio and Terek Said, who combined to present Shawky with a shooting chance which flashed past Nicholson's right-hand post by not a lot.

Had it gone in, it would have been rather harsh on City who, while rarely threatening their professional opponents, gave as good an account of themselves as could be expected in the circumstances. To have restricted Al Ahly to a 2-0 victory is a feat of which Auckland City should be well proud, given they were on a hiding to nothing to begin with.

Auckland: Nicholson; Pritchett, Perry (booked, 44), Uhlmann, Van Steeden (booked, 49) (Sigmund, 51); Mulrooney (Iwamoto, 55), Seaman, Sykes, Coombes; Young, Jordan (booked, 26) (Hayne, 55 (booked, 79))

Al Ahly: El Hadary; Gomaa, Shady, M. Sedik (booked, 19); El Shatar (A. Sedik, 90), Ahmed (Mensah, 89), Shawky (booked, 89), Abou Tarika, Ashour; Moteab (Said, 84), Flavio

Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi

Auckland City