Gor Mahia head coach Leonardo Martins Neiva believes that facing Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the second round of the Caf Champions League will be a challenging task for the Kenyan champions, but he maintains that “in football, everything is possible”.
K’Ogalo, who secured a record 21st Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League title last season, making a return to the inter-club competition, advanced to the second round after eliminating South Sudanese side El Merreikh Bentiu with a 5-2 aggregate score.
Gor Mahia lost the first leg in Juba 1-0 but turned things around in the return leg, defeating their visitors 5-1 at Nyayo Stadium to secure their passage to the next round of the prestigious competition.
Gor Mahia’s qualification pits them against African champions Al Ahly, who received a bye to the second round.
Gor Mahia will host the Red Devils in the first leg at Nyayo Stadium this Sunday before the two sides meet again in the return leg on Saturday, September 21, at Cairo International Stadium.
Kenyan teams have historically struggled against North African sides, including the national team Harambee Stars.
Whenever local teams face North African opponents, it often marks the end of their journey in Caf competitions.
In recent years, only Sofapaka managed to overturn the odds against Egyptian side Ismaily SC during their 2020 Confederation Cup fixture.
Having lost the first leg 2-0 in Egypt, Sofapaka staged a comeback to upset their visitors with a 4-0 win in Nairobi.
However, their quest to reach the Caf competition’s group stage was cut short after they lost to Tunisia’s Club Africain on a 4-3 aggregate, losing the first leg 3-0 in Tunisia and the return leg 3-1 in Nairobi.
When asked if Gor Mahia could break the poor record against North African teams, Martins Neiva responded, as quoted by SportsBoom.com: “We hope so. Everyone knows Al Ahly is the big favorite to retain the Champions League trophy again, given their great history and records. But I can give you an example where things didn’t go as expected for the favorites.”
He continued, “I had a great experience in the Qatar World Cup qualifiers in 2021, where I led Saint Kitts and Nevis to the second round for the first time in the country’s history. We were the fourth-ranked team in a group of five, where the big favorite was Trinidad and Tobago, who had previously played in a World Cup.”
Martins Neiva concluded: “In football, everything is possible. We have seen giant clubs and national teams defeated before.”
On August 13, Gor Mahia lost their key striker Benson Omalla to the Lebanese outfit Al-Safa FC.
The 21-year-old was K’Ogalo’s top scorer in the FKF Premier League last season with 19 goals, earning the Golden Boot Award.
Despite Omalla’s departure, Martins Neiva remains confident that other players will step up to fill the gap.
“We have other players who can cover this void,” Neiva said when asked about Omalla’s exit. “We have a good group of players capable of replacing him, so there’s no need to worry.”
While Gor Mahia boasts 21 Kenyan league titles, Al Ahly holds an unmatched record of 44 Egyptian Premier League titles, 39 Egypt Cup titles and 14 Egyptian Super Cups.
They are the most successful club in Africa, having won a record 12 Champions League titles, one Confederation Cup, a record eight Caf Super Cups, four African Cup Winners’ Cups, one Afro-Asian Club Championship, one Arab Club Champions Cup, one Arab Cup Winners’ Cup, a record two Arab Super Cups, and four Fifa Club World Cup bronze medals.
The last time Gor Mahia played against an Egyptian side was in 2019 during the group stage of the Confederation Cup. Gor Mahia suffered a 4-0 defeat in the first-round clash in Cairo but bounced back to win the return fixture 4-2 at Kasarani Stadium.
