Al Ahly team is back home after a military plane carried the team out of the troubled west African nation ending a five-day drama in Mali.
The Egyptian champions were forced to stay in their hotel as tension escalated between counter-coup soldiers and the military junta in Mali, with clashes killing over 25 in a few days.
“For me that was the most difficult trip I had with the team, not just because of the long journey but also because it was mysterious outside the hotel,” Ahli football director and former winger Sayed Abdul-Hafiz told the club’s satellite channel.
“Things happening around you and you can’t understand what that is. We were always waiting for the unknown. There was big anxiety of course.
“We were always told to stay put and be together, but to be fair, the fighting was not close to our hotel. We used to hear gunfire, but that was away from us.”
Watch the arrival of Al Ahly team from Mali
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trj8Ec4jGZE[/youtube]
The press conference
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58j7ZgRC1mg[/youtube]
