Zamalek have gone on a shopping spree to reinforce their squad‚ but the Egyptians have brought only two new players with them for Wednesday night’s African Champions League group match against Mamelodi Sundowns at Atteridgeville.
Their Burkina Faso international defender Mohamed Koffi has gone walkabout after being accused of faking an injury to miss a cup match last week.
He did not arrive at OR Tambo International with the 19-man squad at the start of this week.
The comment by Zamalek’s outspoken president Mortada Mansour apparently irritated Koffi so much that he left Cairo over the weekend‚ according to Egyptian media reports.
He had previously boycotted their last match when Zamalek won away against Enyimba of Nigeria at the start of the group competition last month to protest late payment of his wages.
Aly Fathi is the only one of the new signings to travel‚ having recently moved from Arab Contractors.
The other new player is Islam Gamal‚ who had gone out on loan to Ismaili for the recently completed Egyptian league season.
He had asked to move to another club after Mortada also criticised his performance. But he has since smoked the peace pipe with the controversial club president.
Gamal is a centre back and likely to go straight into the starting line-up in place of Koffi.
Zamalek have included international striker Ahmed Hassan Mekki‚ who missed the game in Cairo 10 days ago when Sundowns snatched a 2-1 away triumph to put themselves within one point of reaching the semifinals.
Zamalek’s new signings are Mahmoud Abdelaty‚ Mohamed Mosaad and Hosny Fathi‚ but the club is running out of available slots for Champions League registration‚ where a maximum of 30 per club is allowed per year.
Zamalek have three points from two matches in Group B‚ three behind leaders Sundowns.
Enyimba of Nigeria sit bottom without any points after their two games.
Entente Setif of Algeria have bene kicked out.
After Wednesday’s game‚ Enyimba will be away at Zamalek before hosting Sundowns.
The top two finishers in the three-team group advance to September’s semifinals.
Zamalek on shopping spree ahead of Champions League match against Sundowns
Zamalek have gone on a shopping spree to reinforce their squad‚ but the Egyptians have brought only two new players with them for Wednesday night’s African Champions League group match against Mamelodi Sundowns at Atteridgeville.
Their Burkina Faso international defender Mohamed Koffi has gone walkabout after being accused of faking an injury to miss a cup match last week.
He did not arrive at OR Tambo International with the 19-man squad at the start of this week.
The comment by Zamalek’s outspoken president Mortada Mansour apparently irritated Koffi so much that he left Cairo over the weekend‚ according to Egyptian media reports.
He had previously boycotted their last match when Zamalek won away against Enyimba of Nigeria at the start of the group competition last month to protest late payment of his wages.
Aly Fathi is the only one of the new signings to travel‚ having recently moved from Arab Contractors.
The other new player is Islam Gamal‚ who had gone out on loan to Ismaili for the recently completed Egyptian league season.
He had asked to move to another club after Mortada also criticised his performance. But he has since smoked the peace pipe with the controversial club president.
Gamal is a centre back and likely to go straight into the starting line-up in place of Koffi.
Zamalek have included international striker Ahmed Hassan Mekki‚ who missed the game in Cairo 10 days ago when Sundowns snatched a 2-1 away triumph to put themselves within one point of reaching the semifinals.
Zamalek’s new signings are Mahmoud Abdelaty‚ Mohamed Mosaad and Hosny Fathi‚ but the club is running out of available slots for Champions League registration‚ where a maximum of 30 per club is allowed per year.
Zamalek have three points from two matches in Group B‚ three behind leaders Sundowns.
Enyimba of Nigeria sit bottom without any points after their two games.
Entente Setif of Algeria have bene kicked out.
After Wednesday’s game‚ Enyimba will be away at Zamalek before hosting Sundowns.
The top two finishers in the three-team group advance to September’s semifinals.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos