U17: Al Ahly vs Mohammed VI Post Match Press Conference 19.02.2025

Al Ahly, which has been through a roller coaster ride experience throughout the tournament and finally placing eighth after losing 0-5 in its final match against Mohammed VI, still has a lot of takeaways for its players, Head Coach Ossama Sayed Hassanein said at a post-match press conference.

Hassanein thanked the organisers of Alkass U-17 International Cup for the invitation to join the tournament, which he said was a learning curve for the team where they have identified some of their mistakes and weaknesses and will address them. Hassanein added that the players will do better.

Speaking about the team’s lackluster performance in their final game, Hassanein said the team had just played against Paris Saint-Germain which was less than 24 hours before their final match, so a lot of the players were tired and about four players on the team had injuries.

However, the head coach also reiterated some of the team’s highlights during the Cup, such as putting a strong forefront against PSG, as well as going up against several different teams that have different playing styles like Kashiwa Reysol which had a lot of tactics and speed.

“Regardless of how we turned out in tournament and what the final results were, it gave us a chance to develop our levels and adapt to every situation,” Hassanein added.

Also addressing the media, Mohammed VI Head Coach Khalid Sekkat stressed that the tournament taught the team a lot, such as identifying strengths and weaknesses which they will carry on to the next matches as the team further improves to be better.

Describing their final match where they scored the highest number of goals throughout the Cup so far, placing them on 7th place, Sekkat said the team started strong in the first half where they had a lot of chances, which just piled on to the second half.

“We had a lot of goals in this tournament, and trying to win is one of them. We also came out with a lot of other goals in terms of improving our players and raising their standards and levels. I thank God for the experiences that we had in this tournament. It gave us some insight, especially to our young players and how to carry themselves in terms of certain situations and how to adapt. A lot of benefits came from this participation,” added Sekkat.