Red Knights' Mahmoud hopeful of ACL glory

Dubai - The Red Knights may not have hit the target on Saturday night, but that profligacy in front of Guangzhou Evergrande's goal was at least offset by their parsimony in defending their own net.

 Ahmed 'Dida' Mahmoud insists Al Ahli still have every chance of securing Asian Champions League (ACL) glory, despite the fact they won't take a first-leg lead into the subsequent tussle over in China later this month.
The Red Knights may not have hit the target on Saturday night, but that profligacy in front of Guangzhou Evergrande's goal was at least offset by their parsimony in defending their own net.
That clean sheet on home soil could be potentially pivotal too if the return outing proves as tight as the initial encounter, with a score draw now enough to see Ahli prevail outright on the away goals rule.
"Our chances remain out there on the pitch and it is still 50-50, even though the second game is in China," the ex Al Wasl shot-stopper, 26, said.
"We can still win. It doesn't matter that we didn't score. The biggest part was not to concede a goal and we succeeded in that regard."
Ahli know they need to score inside the regulation 90 minutes to stand any chance in China, but their form on the road since the ACL knockout stages began should be a real source of encouragement for them. 
Cosmin Olaroiu's men drew 3-3 at Al Ain in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals, where they came away from Naft Tehran with a 1-0 win prior to holding Al Hilal to a 1-1 scoreline in the semis.
A repeat of any of those three results now would see the Red Knights emerge victorious from this continental competition and etch their names into the history books. "We always do better in our away games," 'Dida' explained. "I don't know why, but that's a positive thing. We should take that as a positive and just think positively about that."
Meanwhile, midfielder Habib Fardan relished the opportunity to pit his wits against Brazilian international Paulinho and firmly believes he and his team-mates have what it takes to get the job done from there. "It was a close game and it was a great challenge for us," the ex Al Nasr player commented.
"Paulinho is a great player, but you don't play against someone on reputation and what trophies they have won or who they have played for.
"I enjoyed the challenge of playing against him, but we also have lots of excellent players. We showed that on Saturday night."
alex@khaleejtimes.com