Al Ahly's Brazilian history doesn't bode well for Palmeiras clash
The African Champions' history in CWC against Brazilian teams is somehow worrying as they never claimed a win.
African champions Al Ahly are set to clash with Brazilians Palmeiras on Thursday to decide the third and fourth places of the FIFA Club World Cup held in Qatar following their defeat to European Champions Bayern Munich in the semi-final.
Throughout their five previous appearances in this tournament, Al Ahly have faced off against Brazilian teams twice, but both results weren't in the Egyptian giants favour.
Al-Ahly met a Brazilian rival for the first time in the 2006 edition when they lost 2-1 to Internacional in the semi-final. Alexander Pato and Luiz Adriano (who currently plays for Palmeiras) scored for the Brazilian side while Amado Flavio scored Al Ahly's only goal.
The Red Devils once again clashed with a Brazilian side in the semi-final of the 2013 tournament but endured another 1-0 defeat at the hands of Corinthians with a goal from veteran Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero.
Al-Ahly's history in the Club World Cup
The nine-time CAF Champions League winners made their debut in CWC back in 2005 when they finished sixth, before returning to the competition a year later to claim their most significant achievement in the tournament when they snatched the bronze medal, an accomplishment they are seeking to repeat this year on Thursday.
Al-Ahly then were part of the 2008 edition when they finished in sixth place having conceded two losses to Pachuca of Mexico (4-2) and Australian Adelaide United (1-0). Their next qualification to the highly-ranked event was four years later when they came in fourth place in the 2012 edition after they won over Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their opening game (2-1) before going down to both Corinthians and Monterrey.
Al-Ahly's last appearance in 2013 however, was a pale one as they lost their first game to Guangzhou F.C before conceding a thrashing 5-1 defeat to Monterrey.