Africa’s most successful club Al Ahly will be looking to write down some history on Tuesday evening when they face South American champions Palmeiras at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi where the two sides will be battling for a place in the 2021 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup final.For the ten time record African champions Al Ahly who defeated Monterrey 1-0 in the quarter finals to book their place in the semis, a first ever appearance in the finals of the tournament is what the Pitso Mosimane coached side will be hoping to achieve on a third time of asking after two failed attempts in the past.Tuesday’s fixture will be the third time they face Brazilian opponents in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals having lost 2-1 to Internacional in 2006 before being beaten 1-0 by Corinthians six years later.Ready for Round 2️⃣#YallaYaAhly#ClubWC pic.twitter.com/PM60oJMK6p— Al Ahly SC 🇬🇧 (@AlAhlyEnglish) February 8, 2022 Heading into the tie against Palmeiras who start straight from the semifinals, Al Ahly will be feeling confident on paper as they defeated the Brazilians 3-2 on post-match penalties in last year’s edition following a barren draw in regulation time.”The game will be tough. We managed to defeat Palmeiras on penalties last year, and this shows that both teams are very strong. The two teams also won the champions league for two times in a row and this reflects how strong they are. We respect Palmeiras. They are a big team, and their coach is an intelligent man. Everybody knows the big players they sent to Europe, but we are a big team too,” Mosimane charged.Ahead of the game, the Red Devils will be boosted by the return of five players who will join up with the team after finishing runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations 2021. Defenders Ayman Ashraf and Akram Tawfik, midfielders Hamdy Fathy and Amr El Solia and forward Mohamed Sherif will all be available for selection against Palmeiras, while goalkeeper and captain Mohamed El Shenawy is sidelined with an injury suffered on international duty.Back With The Squad 😍#YallaYaAhly #ClubWC pic.twitter.com/AtDvMLcsBy— Al Ahly SC 🇬🇧 (@AlAhlyEnglish) February 7, 2022 Moismane however did not reveal whether they will slot directly into the starting eleven. “It is not easy to play with international players in the game. Their fitness condition is not clear for us, but we trust the rest of the players,” he stated.Having become the first Brazilian side to win back-to-back Copa Libertadores titles since Sao Paulo in 1992 and 1993, Palmeiras go into their second consecutive FIFA Club World Cup trying to emulate state rivals Corinthians and Sao Paulo in winning this trophy.1.48 Palmeiras 4.10 Al Ahly 7.50In order to do that, they will be hoping to revenge for their 3/4th playoff loss against Al Ahly last time out.“A club as big as Palmeiras, the target is to win every tournament we enter. And that’s what we believe we will do at the Club World Cup,” Dudu, Palmeiras player, said.A massive 🇧🇷 v 🇪🇬 clash@Palmeiras v @AlAhly #ClubWC pic.twitter.com/Y5vTjut4z7— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) February 8, 2022 Should Al Ahly repeat last year’s result against Palmeiras, reaching their first-ever final would taste all the sweeter after breaking their Brazilian hoodoo.The match kicks off at 1930EAT.
