MC Alger coach Khaled Ben Yahia has spoken after the violent clashes that took place between his side and Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League match.
MC Alger's CAF Champions League journey ended in the quarter-finals as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Orlando Pirates in the second leg, resulting in a 1-0 aggregate loss for the Algerian side.
Sadly, the Buccaneers' qualification for the semi-finals was overshadowed by chaotic scenes that erupted after the final whistle, involving players, a section of the crowd, and match officials.
When questioned about the unruly conduct, MC Alger coach Ben Yahia refused to be drawn into the matter, insisting his presence was solely for a football-related discussion.
‘WE ARE VERY CLOSE WITH SA’
“Thank you, I’m here, I’m a coach, a technical coach who is here to speak about football and only football, if you have question regarding the game, you can ask me,” he said after the game at Orlando Stadium as quoted by iDiski Times.
“Are you aware on a political point of view, Algeria and Tunisia, I’m Tunisian and we have a very close relationship with South Africa… unfortunately [we lost] but we played a good game, it was a quality game, a good spectacle, but we didn’t score.”
The MC Alger coach also extended his congratulations to Pirates for reaching the CAF Champions League semi-finals, where they are set to compete against Pyramids for a place in the final.
“I congratulate Orlando Pirates for the qualification – I wish wholeheartedly love to Orlando Pirates and I’m hoping they will be finalists,” he added.
“I will say it once again, I’m here to speak about football, we created opportunities, we were tactically on point, physically on point.
“We dominated the game, unfortunately, the only thing we didn’t have was the goal. Did you see a good game from our team or not?”
