Novic hails USM players despite defeat to Al Ahly

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Oct 17, 2022. 11:07

US Monastir coach Darko Novic has hailed his players despite their 4-0 aggregate defeat to Al Ahly in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.

The Tunisian hopefuls suffered a 3-0 loss in Cairo on Saturday, completing a 4-0 aggregate reverse at the hands of the Egyptian giants in the premier continental club competition.

Serbian Novic believes that the narrow 1-0 loss at home to the Red Devils in Monastir on October 9 made it difficult for them to have any chance of overturning the deficit.

“If the first leg had ended with a parity score, Al Ahly would have had fewer chances at home,” Novic is quoted by Africa Foot United.

“Now we have to learn from out mistakes and raise our heads, since we can still get a ticket to play in the CAF [Confederation] Cup.”

He added, “I’m proud of my players and I’m sure they’ve acquired experience which will be very useful for the next challenge in Africa.”

USM, along with 15 other losers from this round of the CAFCL, will ‘drop’ into the playoff phase of the Confederation Cup, with matches scheduled to be played early next month.

Al Ahly advanced to the group stage of the Champions League, which will be played in February and March of 2023.