GUANGZHOU, CHINA // Al Ahli must put their Asian Champions League defeat behind them and concentrate on achieving domestic glory this season, according to striker Ahmed Khalil.
The Ahli captain was speaking after his side’s 1-0 reverse to China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in the second leg of the final on Saturday, when Elkeson’s second-half goal ensured the hosts captured the trophy 1-0 on aggregate. Ahli concluded the match with 10 men following Salmeen Khamis’s red card in the 66th minute.
The Dubai club were the first from the UAE to participate in the final in a decade and were bidding to join Al Ain as the only Emirati side to be crowned champions of Asia. The Garden City team triumphed in 2003, before finishing as runners-up two years later.
[Guangzhou v Al Ahli — Asian Champions League final second leg as it happened]
Khalil called for his teammates to rebound quickly, especially with Ahli currently second in the Arabian Gulf League despite playing two matches fewer than their rivals. The 2013/14 UAE champions are unbeaten in this season’s competition in five games. They also lost the President’s Cup final in June, losing on penalties to Al Nasr.
“We played a good game today, everyone played well, but we could not win,” said Khalil, who was substituted in the 63rd minute in Guangzhou. “We tried. We must push more for the rest of the season. We have to continue; we must not stop. We have to think about the league and the cups now.
Ahli had a disappointing title defence last season and finished seventh, meaning they did not qualify for next year’s Champions League. Khalil, though, insisted he and his teammates would do everything to ensure they contest the continental competition again in 2016.
“After this, we need to make sure we play AFC Champions League for the next two years. This is not a final point.”
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