CAIRO: Lierse midfielder Mohamed Abdel-Wahed is delighted to have proved to his manager that he can do well on the pitch while fasting, following his winner against leaders Tienen.
The Egyptian, who insisted to fast on matchday, came on as a second-half substitute to steer Lierse to victory with an emphatic long-range effort.
Abdel-Wahed came off the bench in the 67th minute to fire a long-range drive five minutes later and clinch full points for Lierse, handing leaders Tienen their first defeat of the season.
The former Zamalek midfielder and his fellow countryman Ahmed Samir have been relegated to team B because of their Ramadan fasting.
Lierse coach Herman Helleputte HAD vowed to leave out Egyptian duo Abdel-Wahed and Ahmed Samir as long as the pair carries on observing the month of Ramadan.
However, injuries and suspensions forced the manager to recall the former-Zamalek duo, especially with the team s poor results throughout the month.
It was difficult for me to be relegated to the reserve team, but this goal at Tienen was a gift from God, Abdel-Wahed told FilGoal.com.
I tried hard to explain to the coach that I can play while fasting; I am used to this since I have played many times during the day in Ramadan with Tersana.
Thank God I had that opportunity to prove my point, I was the only fasting player on the pitch and yet I scored the only goal.
After the game, the manager told me if you can keep it like that, I hope you stay fasting all year !
I think I demonstrated that fasting cannot have a negative impact on players.
The victory at Tienen saw Lierse jumping from 17th to 12th in the Belgian second division table.
