Ahly worried by player burn out

Manuel Jose shows concern for the ten Pharaohs in his squad

Ahly coach Manuel Jose has fears that international commitments with Egypt could burn out some of his best players for the African Champions League final.

The Pharaohs play Botswana in a decisive Group 2 Cup of Nations qualifiers on 13 October before flying to Japan for a friendly match four days later.

The players involved would then have to fly back and recover from 8 hours jet lag before playing in the final on 26 October against Etoile du Sahel.

"The normal rule is that for every hour of jet lag you need a day of recovery - this does not leave enough time for my players to respond.

"This could be a big problem for us," the Portuguese coach said.

"I will try and give the rest of my players as much rest as possible.

"They should have five days to relax before the preparations start for the Champions League final."

Ahly could have ten of their squad affected by commitments with Egypt.

Goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, defenders Emad El-Nahhas, Shady Mohamed, Wael Goma, Ramy Adel and Ahmed Fathi; midielders Mohamed Aboutreika, Mohamed Barakat and Hassan Mostafa along with forward Emad Motaeb could be involved international duty.