Cairo derby to decide title

29 June 2011

The biggest match of the elongated Egyptian Premier League season will be played on Wednesday when Cairo giants Al Ahly and Zamalek meet.

Zamalek once held a commanding six-point lead at the top of the League table, but have crumbled in the second half of the campaign and now trail their great rivals by five points going into the final four games of the season.

It makes Wednesday’s match a must-win encounter for the White Knights, with Ahly able to all-but seal the championship should they finish victorious.

Zamalek were easily the best side of the first round of the competition, but under erratic coach Hossam Hassan, have taken just 15 points from the last 33 available.

In contrast, Ahly have turned a slow start to the season into an excellent finish under returning coach Manuel Jose and are unbeaten in their last 17 League matches.

“I call on our loyal fans to flood Cairo Stadium on Wednesday and display their utmost support. The fans, board of directors, technical staff and the players need to be united at such a crucial stage of the season,” Zamalek’s interim chairman Galal Ibrahim told the club’s official website.

“We still have a chance to win the title. People who say that we lost any hopes are just trying to affect our morale before that important game.”

Meanwhile, striker Amr Zaki has been forced to fight claims that he has had a fall-out with the club, saying instead that his recent absence has been due to injury.

“I’m disgusted by the media claims that there is a dispute between me and the coach, this is absolutely nonsense,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahly’s managing director, Sayyed Abdel-Hafez, says his side respect their opponents.

“The game will be difficult, because we respect our opponents who have many talented players. Of course, we’re desperate to win to make our fans happy,” he says.

The match evokes memories of the 2002/03 season, when Zamalek faced a similar situation going into the final few weeks of the campaign. On that occasion they beat Ahly 3-1 to reduce the deficit at the top of the table to two points, and then claimed the title on the last day of the season.

Ahly are gunning for their seventh-straight League title though, and their 36th in all, and seem to have the momentum going into this match.

Both sides have injury concerns, Zamalek will be without Zaki and key midfielder Hassan Mostafa, who both miss out through injury, as do Mohamed Abou-Treika, Mohamed Fadl, Mohamed Shawky and Ahmed Shokri for Ahly.

Ahly edge the historical meetings, in their 106 Derbies, Ahly have won 37 times and Zamalek 25 times, with 44 draws.