The two most successful clubs arguably in Egypt and Africa, Al Ahly and Zamalek, will clash on Friday in the 123rd Cairo Derby at the Cairo International Stadium.
Both teams are eager to get the three points, especially as they managed to win their first two matches in the Egyptian Premier League.
Zamalek seeks to continue victories to maintain the title of last season, while Al-Ahly seeks to win and top the standings to regain the title.
Today, Zamalek concludes the closed camp in a hotel in Heliopolis, near Cairo Stadium. Zamalek’s French coach Patrice Carteron focuses on play methods and each player’s tasks in today’s training. There will be a following session to motivate the players.
Youssef Obama, the team player, is undergoing a medical test today, before training, to determine his condition, in light of his suffering from a muscle strain. The player underwent treatment during the past two days, and the team’s medical staff announced his readiness to participate in the upcoming matches, according to the vision of the technical staff, led by Carteron.
On the other hand, Al-Ahly club is also concluding their training camp ahead of the Cairo Derby. The Red Devils seek to achieve the third victory in the league, after defeating Ismaily SC and the National Bank of Egypt SC.
Mosimane Vs Carteron
The match bears special importance for the coaches of both teams, especially for the South African coach of the Red Devils Pitso Mosimane. Mosimane aims to win and restore the confidence of the red fans, who criticized him in the recent period due to the decline in performance despite achieving victory.
Al-Ahly’s loss tomorrow may lead the departure of the South African coach and may make the Al-Ahly administration consider sacking him before the end of the current season.
On the other hand, the match will be a major determinant for Carteron, who aims to win and compensate for his failure to beat Al-Ahly in the two matches last season, which ended in favor of Al-Ahly with two goals against a goal in the first round and a draw in the second round.
123rd Derby in numbers: 46 victories for Al-Ahly – 27 victories for Zamalek
This marks the 123rd Cairo Derby, to date. In previous clashes, Al-Ahly won 46 matches, Zamalek won 27 other matches and 49 matches ended in a draw.
Al-Ahly club players scored 152 goals, the last of which was Salah Mohsen’s goal, while Zamalek players scored 105 goals against Al-Ahly, the last of which was Sassi’s goal.
Al-Ahly and Zamalek met in Egypt Cup in 32 matches. Al-Ahly won 16 matches and Zamalek won 10 matches. The two teams tied in 6 other matches. The Red Devils scored 57 goals compared to 46 goals for Zamalek.
In the African Champions League, they clashed in 9 matches, the most recent of which was in the final of the last edition of the African Champions League, Al-Ahly won 2-1.
The two Egyptian football poles met in the African Super Cup once, which Zamalek won after defeating Al-Ahly with a clean goal.
As for the Egyptian Super Cup, Al-Ahly and Zamalek met in 7 matches, Al-Ahly won 3 matches, and 4 other matches ended in a draw, so that the two teams ruled for penalty kicks, each team was fair twice at the expense of the other.
