After a huge Al Hilal victory, Koller celebrates with the Al Ahly fans.
Al Ahly defeated Sudan’s Al Hilal 3-0 on Saturday to clinch qualification for the CAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Hussein El-Shahat scored twice in the second half to secure the victory after Mahmoud Kahraba gave the Reds a lead with a fantastic goal in the 25th minute.
After coming second in Group B on goal differential with 10 points, Al Ahly was able to advance to the quarterfinals thanks to the win.
Koller expressed gratitude to the Al Ahly supporters in his post-win remarks. I hadn’t been to a game with this many supporters before, and I didn’t expect it to be that amazing. Throughout the game, I had wonderful experiences, and on the field, we had to pay it forward.
“We definitely need the fans, and any team that will face us will suffer, and I ask the officials to be happy and to facilitate the presence of these fans.
“Our goal was to qualify, even if it was with just one goal, so we wanted not to concede goals at the start, because the opponent would open their lines in order to score, and thus we would take advantage of the spaces.
“I won’t change my goals with Al Ahly, but the goal now is to beat Ghazl El-Mahalla, and we play each match separately.”
Asked about Ahmed Abdelkader’s post-game reaction, Koller said: “Sometimes the player feels that he deserves to continue on the pitch and should not be changed.
“As a coach, I carry out my roles for the sake of the team and to achieve victory. In big matches, feelings are great, and emotion may occur.
“I understand these situations and know how to deal with them, and I do not feel any problems, and tomorrow I will talk to him normally about the match.”
On Hussein El-Shahat, he said: “After the death of Hussein El-Shahat’s father, he was going through difficult times and a bad psychological state, and therefore I gave him a leave to overcome these conditions.
“However, El-Shahat, with his great potential and wonderful technical level, managed to score two goals and help Al Ahly win,” he added.
