The Portuguese team that debuted in the Club World Cup had the chance to equalize in the closing seconds of the game and advance to the semi-finals, but Swede Jonas Kallman’s shot was saved by Abd Elrahman Sayed.
The ‘incarnated’ team, which played the second consecutive meeting in the tournament, while Al Ahly had a rest day, showed some fatigue, which was reflected in a slower game, ineffectiveness and accumulating mistakes at decisive moments.
Benfica, holder of the European League, started the game well, scoring two goals with no response and soon reaching a lead of three, on 05-02, which Al Ahly reduced to just one on 08-07, benefiting from some errors and mistakes committed by the ‘incarnate’ team.
The Portuguese team was almost always at a disadvantage with the 10 lockouts recorded throughout the game, they again opened to a margin of three goals on 10-07, but the Egyptians negated the advantage and took the lead at 12-11, with a 4-0 partial.
The incarnates were long minutes without scoring, after the 11th goal of Serb Petar Djordjic was converted, and just before half-time the appearance of Spanish goalkeeper Sergey Hernández was decisive to stop Al Ahly’s ascendancy.
Petar Djordjic and Belone Moreira scored the goals that allowed Benfica to overcome the deficit and come forward at the end of the first half (13-12), and Sergey Hernández prevented the Egyptians from equalizing by defending a free kick from seven meters.
In the chapter on the seven-meter free kick, Benfica converted two of the Czech referees’ three goals, while Al Ahly received 10 maximum penalties and turned seven into a goal.
At the start of the second half, as in the first, Benfica again had a three-goal lead at 17-14 and 19-16, which the Egyptian team, holders of the African Cup Winners’ Cup, nullified with good articulation play with the game.
Benfica’s problems in the latter part of the match were compounded by the disqualification of Portuguese international pivot Alexis Borges and German winger Ole Rahmel, the latter with a direct red card, a situation exploited by Al Ahly.
Ten minutes before the end of the game, Benfica was still leading with two goals (24-22), but part of three in a row led Al Ahly, backed by hundreds of rowdy fans, into the lead 25-24.
The ‘incarnate’ team were always busy nullifying the Egyptians’ minimal advantage until the end of the match, when veteran Swede Jonas Kallman lost the duel with goalkeeper Abd Elrahman Sayed and missed the qualifying draw.
Serbian Peter Djordjic was the ‘incarnate’ player in the spotlight with nine goals, followed at a distance by Portuguese international Belone Moreira and Germany’s Ole Rahmel, both with five. Omar Khaled Hassan scored eight for Al Ahly.
Competition held in the sports hall of Dammam.
Al Ahly, Egi — Benfica, Por, 29-28.
At half time: 12-13.
Led by Vaclav Horacek and Jiri Novotny, from the Czech Republic, the teams lined up and scored:
– Al Ahly (29): Abdelrahman Homayed (gr), Mohsen Mahmoud (4), Abd Elrahman Abdou, Abdelaziz Ashour (1), Saif Salaheldin (2), Omar Ali Dahroug (3) and Ibrahim El Masry. Also playing: Rady Ahmed (1), Mostafa Khalil (1), Ahmed Nasr Allah (1), Raul Nantes (1), Yasser Abdelwahed, Ahmed Mesilhy (7), Omar Khaled Hassan (8) and Abd Elrahman Sayed (gr) .
Coach: Ahmed Abouela.
– Benfica (28): Serguey Hernández (gr), Adam Juhasz (2), Paulo Moreno (4), Ander Izquierdo, Arnaut Bingo, Leandro Semedo, Luciano Silva (1) and Petar Djordjic (9). Also playing: Jonas Kallman, Belone Moreira (5), Carlos Martins, Alexis Borges, Ole Rahmel (5), Demis Grigoras (2), Tadej Kljun and Gustavo Capdeville (gr).
Coach: Chema Rodriguez.
Attendance: about 2,100 spectators.
Source: DN
