Unfortunately, words like shocking, heavy, embarrassing and unacceptable were used by media and fans in the aftermath of a high-level loss resembling the 'Pachuca disaster'.

Amir Abdul-Hamid is the new villain for a large contingent of Ahli fans, whereas others suggested that Manuel Jose is dearly paying for his silly mistakes.

But I think that too much hype has preceded the game, and evidently, the problem escalated with the unpleasant outcome.

It was just a defeat, one team lost to another in a crucial game of football.

It was not a shocking exit; it is just the harsh knockout nature of the competition that presented a stunner to Ahli supporters.

It was not a heavy defeat, because actually the game ended in a 2-2 draw, and conceding two goals in extra-time is not a big deal in top competitions regardless of the caliber of the losing side.

No doubt that the Mexicans have tactically outclassed Ahli after the break, but it is nonsense to say that Egyptian or African football is still ages behind the top-level of the game elsewhere.

Simply because Ahli have already shown their class in 2006 against Mexico's America, who, ironically, boast an incomparable pedigree against that of Pachuca's.

Reverse Reaction

In my view, the problem would not have vanished had Ahli won in Tokyo. An over-reaction would have occurred in the opposite direction.

Had Mohamed Barakat's falsely-disallowed goal after half-time stood, the Abou-Treika vs. Ronaldo trailers would have spread all-over Cairo, in anticipation of the 'dream final' with Manchester United!

Slogans like 'Who can defy Ahli' and 'Bring on Manchester' would have reflected a state of over-pride amongst Red supporters. Above all that, Jose would have been considered the undisputed genius.

The conclusion is; too much propaganda plus extravagant reaction can hardly bring positive results.

"The Egyptian media started to give us a bashing after making a big fuss that we would be able to become the world club champions. Most of their critics are ill-intentioned," said Jose.