Al Ahly coach Jose Riveiro has boldly stated his side’s ambitions at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the USA saying they want to reach the knockout stage.
Riveiro’s charges are in Group A with Brazilian side Palmeiras, Porto and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami who they open the tournament against on Sunday morning (02:00) with this being the Spaniard’s first official outing with the Egyptian giants having joined them in May after his impressive stint with Orlando Pirates ended.
Riveiro rates the group as a tough one but getting out of the pool is something he knows fans will be expecting with the experience they have at the tournament.
“Our goal at this stage is to qualify for the round of 16 as a first step,” Riveiro was quoted in yallakora.com.
“And we want to achieve positive results, and we are preparing strongly for the opening match against Inter Miami. Al Ahly is a great club, and it has many fans everywhere and we know that there is an audience waiting for us to achieve positive results and we will work to make them happy.
“The most important thing is to cross to the next round and winning the opening meeting will be important for us and certainly the fans in Egypt. And the world always dream of the best for the club but we are thinking about the first step now which is to achieve good results in the group stage.”
Riveiro also admitted it’s a tough task coming against a Messi who has won everything and in as much as they are pleased to face someone of his pedigree, it doesn’t mean his teammates shouldn’t be planned for.
“Certainly, Lionel Messi has achieved everything and there are some who describe him as the best player in history and for this we will need a great effort in the game in general,” added the coach.
“And in any case, we are happy to face Messi, but this does not diminish the value of the rest of the Inter Miami players. We are preparing to face the opposing team as a whole and not just one player.”
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