Exclusive: Bob Oyugi Adamant Gor Mahia Can Overturn Al Ahly Champions League defeat
Former Gor Mahia coach Bob Oyugi is confident the Kenyan champions can overturn their 3-0 defeat to Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League with the right mentality and tactical adjustments.
Image Credits: Gor Mahia
Former Gor Mahia coach Bob Oyugi is confident that the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions can still turn the tables and eliminate Egyptian giants Al Al Ahly from the CAF Champions League.
K'Ogalo’s chances of reaching the group stage of the inter-club competition suffered a huge blow after the African champions registered a 3-0 win in the first leg second preliminary round fixture at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday, September 15.
Goals from Ramy Rabia in the 14th minute and a brace from South African forward Percy Tau in the 15th and 73rd minutes respectively ensured that the record Champions League winners will head into the return leg in Cairo after a fortnight with a healthy advantage.
During the fixture at Nyayo Stadium, Gor Mahia started off strongly and after missing two open chances, Al Ahly punished Gor Mahia with the opener when Rabi met a cross from Tau to sneak it past goalkeeper Kevin Omondi.
Before dust could settle, the Red Devils, who have won the Champions League trophy a record 12 times in history, scored the second to stun the record Kenyan champions. A poor defending by K’Ogalo players allowed Tau to steal the ball before slotting it past Omondi.
From there on, the game belonged to Al Ahly, who, despite playing away from home, continued to attack for more goals. In fact, Gor Mahia were very lucky to have headed into the half-time break trailing by a slim 2-0 margin.
Al Ahly started the second period from where they had left, and after a host of missed chances, they finally grabbed the third, the Bafana Bafana striker finding the back of the net to end K’Ogalo’s slim hopes of staging a comeback.
Gor Mahia Can Still Beat Al Ahly and Advance
According to Oyugi, who helped Gor Mahia to win the Premier League title in 1993, all is not lost for the Kenyan side because they can still get a positive result in Cairo with proper mentality.
“They (Gor Mahia) can still turn the tables, yes, it is possible, this situation happens all over the world. Gor Mahia players are highly technical, and creative. They only need to change their mentality. The coach, and officials should ensure that the players are in their proper mental state. You remember we had the same challenge with Hellenic FC from South Africa in 1993,” Oyugi told SportsBoom.com.
“We beat them (Hellenic) 2-0 here in Nairobi, after they had beaten us 3-1 in Cape town to qualify. So, what makes you think that Gor Mahia cannot do the same, go to Egypt and get a positive result? It is football and we must accept that football dynamics have changed in recent years, everything is possible. Does it mean Al Ahly being the African champions are unshakable?”
During the Gor Mahia versus Hellenic Confederation Cup second round fixture, the South African club came as the favourites having finished second behind Kaizer Chiefs in the league. Hellenic were heavily favoured against Gor Mahia. They were a fully professional outfit whereas Gor Mahia was a fully amateur team.
Secondly, Hellenic came into this round red hot. They had beaten Malawi representatives MDC United 7-1 on aggregate after drawing 1-1 in Lilongwe and winning 6-0 in Cape Town while Gor Mahia had eliminated Uganda Coffee 1-0 aggregate.
Oyugi continued: “What is the African champions? Who said that African champions are not supposed to lose a game? I think Gor Mahia went with that belief and lost the game. Kenyan teams need to change their mentality against North African teams. Our players are inferior mostly to the Arab world.
Football is a manner less game, and all is possible. If they (Al Ahly) can score three goals here, then Gor Mahia can comfortably score three goals in Cairo.
Bob Oyugi
Al Ahly Looked Weak Team to Beat Gor Mahia
Oyugi further said Gor Mahia should have picked a positive result during the home game because Al Ahly were not “good enough” but only capitalised on K’Ogalo’s defensive mistakes to carry the day.
“Al Ahly looked like a very weak team to beat Gor Mahia. Gor Mahia was unsettled to take that advantage and win the game. The moment they conceded two quick goals (from their own defensive mistakes), they failed to recover, but truth be said, the opening 10 minutes were dominated by Gor Mahia until Al Ahly scored,” added Oyugi.
"Gor Mahia defence was the first problem after going flat. Gor Mahia players conceded easy goals. They need to psychologically prepare for their return game in Cairo. They need to reorganise their transitions and observe the “principle of defence” as this is not the end of the road for the club. They need more motivation than before.”
Asked what style of play Gor Mahia coach Leonardo Martins Neiva should deploy for a favourable result in the return leg, Oyugi responded: “Every coach trusts their own philosophies. Gor Mahia should attack well and score goals. Proper mental state should be the key!”
The last Kenyan team to eliminate an Egyptian side from the CAF club competition was Sofapaka, who tossed out Ismaila from the Confederation Cup on a 4-2 aggregate win. During the fixture in 2020, Sofapaka lost the first leg 2-0 in Cairo but returned home to win 4-0.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.