The Zamalek team announced an emergency level 48 hours before the game against Al Ahly, scheduled for Saturday within the 17th round of the Egyptian Premier League.
Zamalek’s coach Christian Gross has decided to keep the team training secretly for the next few hours. He stressed that there should be no club official or fans in the training or the team camp, which will kick off on Friday.
Furthermore, Gross also warned Zamalek players not to play in a hasty manner, which could cause them to waste their chances. He also asked them not to be nervous during the game.
For its part, the management of Zamalek warned the players of scuffling with Al Ahly players in the pitch or their response to the provocation of the fans.
The Zamalek administration also warned the players not to publish anything related to the game on their accounts on the social networking sites so as to not lose focus.
There is a state of division within the Zamalek technical apparatus led by Gross, about pushing either Hamid Ahaddad or Mahmoud Kahraba.
Gross preferred to rely on Ahaddad, especially since he is good at defensive duties, unlike Kahraba. The assisting technical staff, however, prefer Kahraba for his top-notch performance, and to benefit from him in order to exploit Mohamed Hany’s advances on the right side of Al Ahly.
A source in Zamalek said that Gross has not yet taken the decision. Meanwhile, he decided to include Ahmed Sayed Zizo at the expense of Ibrahim Hassan.
Zamalek’s board of directors also sent a message to the fans demanding restraint during the game.
On the other hand, there is uncertainty about the position of the Congolese Kasongo, the Zamalek striker-who is loaned to Al-Wehda club until the end of the current season-regarding his return to the White Citadel after the end of the loan period, especially as Zamalek currently has four foreign players in its ranks, namely Moroccans Hamid Ahaddad, Khalid Boutaib, and Tunisians Hamdi Al-Naqaz and Farjani Sassi.
The white’s officials look forward to the position of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) in order to consider the players of North Africa as locals next season, which is currently supported by Zamalek.
If the EFA does not endorse the decision to consider North Africans as locals, the players will be loaned again next season.
On the other hand, international players are subject to the healing training following their return to Cairo, after participating with the national team in the friendly match against Nigeria, which was held on Tuesday within the preparations of the Pharaohs for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ali Maaloul, who is also in recovery, has participated as well in the friendly against Algeria with his national team of Tunisia.
For his part, Sayed Abdel Hafiz, Al Ahly football director, said that the atmosphere is calm inside Al Ahly before the match, and that the technical programme was developed to face Zamalek.
He stressed his confidence in the capabilities and the experience enjoyed by Ahly in such a difficult atmosphere, which is always good to deal with, and expressed his hope that the team will win.
