Pyramids FC head coach, Krunoslav Jurčić praised his team’s performance against Mamelodi Sundowns in the first leg of the CAF Champions League final.
The Egyptian side roared back to end the game 1-1 at the Loftus Versfeld over the weekend.
“Pyramids played a very strong match and were the better team for most of the match. If it weren’t for bad luck, they would have scored many goals,” Jurcic explained after the match.
He added: “But in the end, Walid El Karti’s goal in the last minutes is a reward for this champion team with a great character.”
The Croatian coach expressed his disappointment at the missed opportunities, but stressed his happiness with “the draw, the players’ excellent performance, their wonderful character, and their strong comeback despite falling behind by a goal.”
“This is the character I have built for the team,” noting that Pyramids has become accustomed to coming back from behind, scoring, and winning in all competitions, “which reflects the players’ ideal character.”
Jurčić stressed that his players “were heroes and deserve praise for their outstanding performance, but in the end, the team hasn’t achieved anything yet.”
“What happened is that we only finished the first half, and we have the second half in Egypt in just a week, and we must win to win the precious title.
“Pyramids FC doesn’t have anyone’s support in Egypt, and it fights alone in various tournaments, even though it represents Egypt in the most important tournament on the continent.
“We have to head to Ismailia in just 49 hours for a decisive league match against Ceramica that will determine the league champion, and we must play it with our main players because of its importance.
“It would have been better to support Pyramids in the continental final so they could win the title for Egypt,” he added.
The return leg has been scheduled for June 1 at the Cairo International Stadium.
