CAIRO: Zamalek will be eying a perfect end to the first round of the Egyptian league at Cairo Stadium on Thursday, ahead of the international break when they face their arch-rivals Al Ahly.
Al Ahly will seek to end a series of bad results that have left the team lagging at fourth place, six points behind the division leaders, Zamalek.
Fans of both sides are thus gearing up for a special derby that will largely indicate whether the league title will be easily determined early or will be decided after heated, intense competition in the second round.
Heavy security measures are being taken as tension mounts between each team’s ‘Ultras’ (organized groups of hardcore fans). This tension was amplified over the past few games by Zamalek star footballer Mahmoud “Shikabala” Abdel Razek, who responded to insults made by Ahly fans by singing along with the Zamalek fans’ anti-Ahly chants. The incident sparked a war of insults between both groups, with each side threatening to use violence.
On the pitch, both teams enter the game with contrasting conditions. Zamalek, with a young, ambitious and hyped squad led by Hossam Hassan, will be looking for its first derby victory in years and a morale-boosting result that will bring the league title ever closer.
On the other hand, Al Ahly — led by 1980s legend Abdel Aziz “Zizo” Abdel Shafi, will rely on the experience of its players to ensure that the end result of the derby will be positive, thereby restoring its fans’ lost confidence and keeping the club’s pride intact.
While Zamalek is the team with the most goals scored this season (28), they have one of the weakest defenses in the competition, having conceded 17 goals to date. So far this season, Ahly has scored 17 goals and conceded 13. Six of the 13 games the team has played this season have ended in a draw.
Absentees from both squads are minimal. Al Ahly midfielder Hossam Ashour and striker Mohamed Fadl may miss the game due to minor injuries that were inflicted during the team’s latest 1–1 draw against the Arab Contractors.
On the other hand, Zamalek will be missing striker Amr Zaki over a long term injury he sustained. The final status of Egyptian-Qatari playmaker Hussein Yasser Al Mohammadi remains on hold until he returns from the Qatar national team’s Asian Cup preparation camp.
With a 4–4–2 formation, Zamalek’s Hassan will rely on the talents of playmaker Shikabala to break the expected tight defenses of his opponent, in addition to the speed of wingers Mohamed Abdel Shafy on the left and Omar Gaber or Hazem Emam on the right.
Al-Ahly’s Zizo, who will bid the team farewell after the game to make room for the foreign coach that will be responsible for the rest of the team’s season, will opt for a traditional 3–5–2 formation. Zizo will try to enhance the performance of his defense line, which showed a lack of coordination, speed and tactical discipline in the team’s last game.
In the front, Zizo will rely on the talents of Mohamed “Gedo” Nagi and Mohamed Abou-Trika to put pressure on Zamalek’s midfield. Youngster Shehab Ahmed must come to the game prepared for the key task of man-marking Shikabala, a vital battle that will weigh heavily on the game’s outcome.
Chances of fans being entertained with goals are high, as both teams’ goalkeepers — Abdel Wahed Al Sayed for Zamalek and Mahmoud Aboul Soud for Al-Ahly — failed to impress team followers by conceding very easy goals. The expectations of a high scoring derby are only furthered by both teams’ demonstrated proficiency in using free kicks to alter the outcomes of their games.
Al-Ahly and Zamalek meet each other at least two times each season in a classic Cairo derby that is classified as among the best in the world. The derby is closely followed by football fanatics throughout the Arabic-speaking region.
Although recent derbies were characterized by high scoring and high competitiveness, Al-Ahly maintained the upper hand, winning three of the last six derby games in the league. The other three derby games ended in a draw.
The Egyptian league is set to enter a long international break as the national team participates at the Nile Basin countries tournament hosted by Egypt, which will begin on Jan. 5.
