AS FAR at full strength and hungry to bring down Al Ahly

AS FAR have wrapped up their preparations at the military training centre in Maamoura ahead of a huge CAF Champions League group clash against Egyptian giants Al Ahly on Friday at the newly opened Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium.

The mood is a mix of excitement and tension after a shock opening defeat away to Young Africans in Tanzania, a result that has placed real pressure on Portuguese coach Alexandre Santos.

Club officials have stepped in strongly this week, delivering a clear message to the players and coach: only a win will keep qualification hopes and the coach’s job truly alive. Financial bonuses well above the usual scale have been promised if they manage to beat Ahly in what is just the second African meeting between the two sides, after the 2006 CAF Super Cup in Cairo.

On the pitch, AS FAR are almost at full strength, missing only suspended forward Hamza Khaba, while captain Rabii Hreimais will lead the team before flying with three others to join Morocco’s B squad for the Arab tournament in Qatar. Mauritanian winger Noah, absent in Tanzania due to national team duty, is back, as is Abdelfattah Hadraf, who has recovered from surgery, and Swiss-based signing Mohcine Bouriqua, now over minor knocks.

Santos is expected to go all-out in attack, convinced that anything less than victory could accelerate his departure. In goal, former Morocco international Reda Tagnaouti is in top form after a string of big saves in Tanzania, while the coach is banking on the experience of Hreimais, Ahmed Hammoudan and last season’s Botola top scorer Youssef El Fahli to trouble Ahly and reshape the group standings.

Off the pitch, the club announced a full house, with all 23,000 tickets for the Ahly clash sold out within hours of going online, turning the new stadium into a cauldron.

Ultra groups have already visited the training ground to deliver emotional messages and promise spectacular tifos reminding the current squad that AS FAR were Morocco’s first African champions back in 1985, pushing them to write their own history against the continent’s most decorated club.