Mohamed El-Shenawy, the Egyptian Al-Ahly goalkeeper and captain, sparked great controversy after the end of his team’s match against Mexico’s Pachuca in the semi-finals of the 2024 Intercontinental Club Football Championship.
Al-Ahly lost to Pachuca on penalties (5-6) after the match that brought them together yesterday at “974” Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, ended in a goalless draw, so the African champion missed the opportunity to win the Challenge Cup.
Al-Ahly was close to reaching the final match and facing Spanish Real Madrid after El-Shenawy succeeded in saving the first penalty kick, then the Pachuca players missed the second at a time when the Egyptian team scored the first three penalty kicks, but Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” and Omar Kamal missed the fourth and fifth kicks. While scoring one of them was enough to take Al-Ahly to the final.
Things turned upside down as the penalty shootout extended to the eighth round, in which Khaled Abdel Fattah missed his shot to snatch Pachuca’s qualification ticket to the final, something that greatly shocked the Al-Ahly fans present in the stands of Stadium 974, and some of them entered into skirmishes with a number of players, including El-Shenawy.
A video clip on the “X” platform showed El-Shenawy responding to Al-Ahly fans who were frustrated with their team’s loss, and who criticized a number of players, including the goalkeeper and his teammate, “Kahraba.”
El-Shenawy said to the Al-Ahly fans, “I am marginalized… Bravo to you… Miyia Miyia fans.”
Mohamed El-Shenawy after the Pachuca match to Al-Ahly fans: I am marginalized and bravo to you
📺Abdul Rahman Jamal Mizo pic.twitter.com/41Ou1A2ISD
— FilGoal (@FilGoal) December 14, 2024
El-Shenawy’s contract with Al-Ahly is scheduled to expire at the end of the current football season 2024-2025, and so far the two parties have not reached an agreement to sign a new contract.
El-Shenawy has been playing with Al-Ahly since the summer of 2016, when he moved to him from Petrojet.
El-Shenawy defended Al-Ahly’s goal in 305 matches in all tournaments, conceding 191 times. He also kept the goal clean in 170 matches, according to figures from the famous “Transfermarkt” website, which specializes in statistics and data for players and clubs.
El-Shenawy also won 22 titles with Al-Ahly, most notably the Egyptian League 7 times, the African Champions League 4 times, and the African Super Cup twice.