premise: Despite the urging of local experts that the game would have been a good way to prepare and get in form for the Nov. 11 game with Sfaxien, Jose pushed to get his way and will likely be held accountable should the Egyptians come home empty-handed.
  But there is another aspect to consider -- Ahly, Egypt's best soccer club based in Cairo, needs a serious morale booster.
  Moreover both Zamalek and Ismailia, Ahly's main competitors in the Egyptian league, failed to win their games this week. Had Ahly played and won this week, the team would have jumped up to second place in the league standings, only one point behind Ismailia and ahead of Zamalek.
  With three postponed games still in hand for Ahly, such a scenario could have certainly boosted the team's morale before their Saturday game.
   Why would it have been possible for Ahly to jump up to second place if they'd won this week?
hypothesis: the team would have jumped up to second place