CAIRO: Zamalek will be without 11 first team players when the club takes on Assuit Petroleum in the Egyptian league on Friday.
Gamal Hamza, Mohamed Aboul-Ella, Ricardo, Osama Hassan and Wissem Abdi are all still out despite being pardoned after the coaching staff omitted them from the first team last month.
The players only resumed first-team training last week and none of them are fit enough to take part against Assuit Petroleum.
In addition to that, the White Knights will also play without keeper Mohamed Abdel-Monsef and international defenders Mahmoud Fathallah and Hani Saied, who are away for pilgrimage.
Ghanaian striker Junior Agogo is still serving a three-match suspension, which was imposed by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) following the player s improper gestures in the goalless draw against Petrojet.
Moreover, midfielder Ayman Abdel-Aziz will also be out of the game. The 30-year-old refused to sit on the bench in Sunday s defeat to Harras Hodoud and consequently, the technical staff decided to exclude him and strip him of the team s captaincy.
On the other hand, Mostafa Gaafar picked up a minor Achilles injury against Hodoud, and the striker will need a 10-day rest before rejoining the first team.
The various absentees forced interim coach Ahmed Refaat to recall Mahmoud Samir and Abdel-Halim Ali to the squad.
Zamalek will be hoping to put an end to the dismal league run that witnessed the team s inability to win any of their last six games, losing four and drawing three times in the process.
