Gor Mahia head coach Leonardo Neiva has expressed his frustration at the tough draw his team faced in the CAF Champions League preliminaries, going up against the reigning champions, Al Ahly of Egypt.
Despite the challenging task, Neiva remains determined to pull off a surprise result and overturn the 3-0 defeat suffered in the first leg in Nairobi.
Speaking ahead of the return leg in Cairo, set for Saturday, Neiva highlighted the uneven playing field when lower-ranked teams like Gor Mahia are paired with African football giants like Al Ahly. “On paper, I think it was unfair pairing us with such a big team. But that is football. It gives us some experience we have never had before,” the Brazilian coach remarked.
Gor Mahia, a team with a rich history in Kenyan football, have struggled to make a mark on the continental stage in recent years. They face an uphill battle against an Al Ahly side that has won the CAF Champions League title a record 12 times, including the last two.
However, Neiva remains adamant that K’Ogalo still have a chance to turn things around, drawing inspiration from a previous comeback victory. He pointed to their triumph over South Sudan’s Al Merreikh Bentiu in an earlier CAF Champions League tie, where Gor Mahia overturned a first-leg loss to advance.
“We did the same against South Sudan’s Al Merreikh Bentiu. They beat us in the first leg, and we managed to overturn the result in a bigger way. We have a plan, and we pray it works for us in Cairo,” Neiva said with optimism.
Gor Mahia left Nairobi for Cairo on Thursday and arrived later in the evening. Chairman Ambrose Rachier, who confirmed the team’s departure, echoed the coach’s hopeful sentiment, stating that despite the difficult challenge ahead, Gor Mahia have the ability to reverse the first-leg result.
“There is no obvious barrier that can stop us from cancelling the first-leg result and probably win on post-match penalties,” said Rachier to Citizen TV.
The 22-time Kenyan champions face the daunting task of overcoming the three-goal deficit in Cairo against one of Africa’s football powerhouses.
Gor Mahia are the only team from the CECAFA region to have won a continental title, the 1987 Nelson Mandela Cup, under the guidance of coach Jack Johnson. But their recent form on the continental stage has been less remarkable since.
As they prepare for the crucial encounter, Neiva and his team, consisting of 22 players and members of the technical bench, are determined to give it their all. Despite the odds, the coach is banking on his team’s resilience and the lessons learned from past experiences.
Whether they can replicate their Al Merreikh miracle against Al Ahly remains to be seen, but the spirit of K’Ogalo is far from extinguished.
The showdown in Cairo offers Gor Mahia a slim, yet possible, chance to make history and revive their continental fortunes, with Neiva leading the charge for a miraculous turnaround.