Sherif inspires as Al Ahly progress

An eye-catching performance from Al Ahly centre-forward Mohamed Sherif helped the African Champions League runners-up progress to the second round of the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022™, where they will face Seattle Sounders.

MAN OF THE MATCH presented by Visit Saudi: Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly) 

Sherif scored Al Ahly's second goal in their 3-0 victory over the OFC Champions Auckland City, eventually reaping the rewards for his consistent movement and willingness to make dangerous runs in behind City's defence.

Our Technical Study Group (TSG) were unanimous in their decision to award Sherif the Man of the Match award. Jürgen Klinsmann explained the reasoning behind the choice. 

"He was sharp and lively and he got great supply from his wide players, El Shahat and Abdelkader. He was always moving and looking to affect the space in behind and he took his goal really well. It was an excellent counter-attack but he was on the move as soon as the ball was intercepted and was ready to receive the forward pass from El Shahat in behind. His timing was perfect but he had the willingness to make those runs all night," explained Klinsmann.

Cha Du-Ri was also impressed with the centre-forward's contribution to the Red Devils' performance.  

"Sherif was involved in Al Ahly's best chances in the lead up to their opening goal, he has pace and good technique with the ball and was always dangerous. I enjoyed their performance, especially how the front players combined and worked together to achieve that space in behind, but also the awareness of the midfielders, who played early forward passes in attempts to get Sherif on the ball, in behind Auckland City's defence.  

"Auckland tried to defend deep to deny the space that Sherif wanted but Al Ahly were able to draw them out so there was a lot to like about this performance. They worked hard out of possession with a great appetite to counter-press high and they really deserve to progress. I'm looking forward to seeing them again against Seattle Sounders on Saturday. 

Sherif's performance data also reflects the observations of our TSG. He made 25 offers to receive in behind the last line of City's defence and performed 71 Zone 4/5 activities (which involves sprinting at > 20km/h), making him the top ranked player in the game for this metric. This demonstrates his explosive accelerations in dangerous parts of the pitch; one of these accelerations was Sherif's early run in transition during the build-up to his goal.